The Locket
by nomdeplume01
Summary: A chance encounter in her local coffee shop brings Bella's life to a grinding halt. Who is this stranger that knows things about her, she had only dreamed of ever finding out? How do they cope when they face a common enemy?
1. Prologue: Love Madly

**THE LOCKET**

**Prologue**

"**Love Madly"**

**-.-.-**

"Miss?" his low voice broke her concentration. She had been staring idly into the air for the last 10 minutes, wondering when her message would have been received and what his reaction would be.

She'd been right to send the message, hadn't she?

The little plump man standing in the entrance to her nursery shuffled back and forth, a little worried his mistresshadn't outwardly reacted to him.

"Oh right, sorry Manfred," she whispered, looking briefly to the small man before exhaling loudly into the otherwise quiet room. "What did he say?"

"He wishes to see you miss."

She figured as much and sighed loudly one more time before collecting her skirts in her hands and turning to follow Manfred to the west wing of the castle. Whether or not she wished it, she knew without a doubt this would be the hardest decision she would ever have to make.

-.-.-

"You have to understand where I'm coming from Charles. She's my daughter! And if we don't do this she'll be in danger. You know this, you of all people in this world knows of the danger connected to her birth!" She was fuming, absolutely fuming. He had instantly rejected her proposal, dismissed her as if she were some commoner and not his lover.

He was pacing in front of the family portrait. It was a personal treasure of his, showing him as a baby sitting upon his sisters knees in front of their older brother. They were all dressed in formal clothing, their hair in meticulous updo's and shoes polished until they shone with their reflections. But they had been unhappy. Their stiff smiles said as much to the unknowing bystander, but to him it was their eyes that betrayed the stiff and uncomfortable air surrounding him and his siblings. As far as he was concerned they were never happy, not once since they had passed.

"It's not going to happen Renee!" He shouted at her, his ears turning red in anger.

"And why is that exactly?! You'd think it safer for her to stay here? Stay in a world tainted by your evil?"

He fell back half a step, obviously wounded by her words. She knew he didn't have anything to do with that monster's behaviour, yet she chose this time to pull out the big guns, using whatever she could to make him see reason.

"Renee… You know I can't do it." He looked down into her bright green eyes slowly extending his arms to invite her into an embrace, hoping that would placate her temporally.

She met his eyes straight on, not backing down. "No Charles, I'm sending her, whether you like it or not." She squared her shoulders and puffed out her chest, hoping to simulate a silverback so he would recognize his loss. "We know of the dangers becoming her if we choose to keep her here and raise her ourselves. We must trust faith in letting someone more capable of providing somewhere safe and secure to raise her."

Her last argument left the room in silence for two long minutes, before he desperately embraced her sighing: "Alright darling."

-.-.-

They had been on a day and a half's worth journey, traveling to the last portal left in the kingdom. The hooves of their horses stamped impatiently into the ground, making this otherwise peaceful late afternoon appear stressed.

He'd called on the help of a few of their trusted servants, hoping they would be able to make the journey by two days. If it hadn't been for the troubled witch they'd stumbled by on the edge of the forest, they would have made it. Now they were late, and he knew what risk being late meant.

He looked at his love, knowing he'd have to force the baby away from her, without offering the reprieve of saying properly goodbye before they had to send of the child.

"Renee, darling…"

She looked towards him, for the first time since embarking on this journey. She knew that tone of voice. She'd heard it a few times whenever he had to relay unpleasant or disappointing news to her. It wasn't often he did so, but living in a world where chaos and trouble swarmed your kingdom, a few disappointments were inevitable.

She sighed, dismounting her steed and walked timidly towards Charles' steed. He had the baby curled on his arm. The baby had been wrapped into the most expensive silk blanket she had been able to find before leaving on their journey.

He handed her the girl with trepidation, kissing her softly on the top of her head of wild brown curls. The girl giggled, trying to imitate the face of her father looking down upon her with such love and affection. "My princess," he murmured.

She walked with the child in her arms towards the ocean. The waves lapped at the shore, creating a soft humming in the woman's ears as she looked down into the eyes of her future. This child was to be their saviour. Of that she was sure.

Big brown eyes stared into loving and misty green ones. She felt the love implode around her as she bent down into the sand, gently laying the child down.

"You my child are destined to become someone special. You will from this day on, until we shall meet again, fill our hearts with love and hope." She whispered in a soft voice, with love and understating that only a mother could convey by tone of voice. "My mother… She used to put me to bed every night telling me: 'If you love not with madness, you don't love at all'. You my child, you are loved. You will always know love."

A tear escaped the corner of her eye, landing softly on the baby's cheek. She removed the locket placed preciously above her heart and fastened the chain around the baby's neck. She cautiously nestled the locket above the baby's heart repeating her love for the child before standing. The tears were streaming in a constant flow down her pink cheeks now.

"Remember child, love madly or don't love at all." She turned with these last parting words, not seeing the child gripping the locket in a tight grip. Her brown eyes followed the form of her mother leaving with hunched shoulders, and tears matting her skin. She'd be 22 before she would remember this again. Until then she would remain innocent and loved by another family in another world.


	2. Chapter 1: Reality or Fantasy?

**THE LOCKET**

**Chapter 1**

"**Reality or Fantasy"**

**-.-.-**

"Shit!"

The loud exclamation filled the otherwise dark room. She had been sleeping peacefully until the nightmare had snuck up on her, scaring the living daylights out of her. She thought she'd seen the last of that nightmare in her early teens. Why had she had it now?

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her galloping heart from jumping out of her chest.

Her feet met the cold hardwood floor of her bedroom. She had initially considered installing a rug, but the hardwoods were originally why she'd fallen in love with the apartment. It was a small, but cosy home. It was like her.

She moved away from home early. Her parents had split when she was just a baby. Every day with her father felt like a constant reminder of her mother's disappearance. He wasn't unpleasant to live with, in fact, they were probably the two best-fit companions to share living quarters, but frankly she had been fed up with his constant moping. So she had left, decided to start her own life early and not be limited by her father's small-mindedness.

Standing from the bed, she stretched removing all the kinks from her back. Her feet shuffled across the floor in the memorized route they used to take every morning. She ended up at the toilet where she looked at the reflection staring back at her.

Her brown eyes stared lifelessly at her. She was a professional at keeping a cool and collected front when it involved others. But all alone, in her small home, the missing life from her dull brown eyes haunted the image spitting back at her. She really had to keep herself better collected whenever they surprised her with the utter lack of spark in them such as they did now. She was not suicidal, in fact she had a very low tolerance of pain, but she was missing something. She'd always felt partly empty, like something essential had been missing from her person.

It took one banana, a granola bar and splashing her face with water twice before she felt the last discomfort leave her body. She dressed before picking up her keys, nearly forgetting her mother's locket while stepping through the door of her apartment.

-.-.-

The busy streets of Seattle usually made her smile. She loved the rustle and commotion of the city. Growing up in Forks had been smothering. Everybody knew everybody's business; there were practically no secrets in that town anymore. She'd been going crazy growing up in a small town where the whisperings of her mother's abandonment filled her every day.

The bell above the door chimed when she entered the small café.

"Morning Bella," her overeager friend behind the counter smiled hugely at her as soon as she had stepped over the threshold.

She gave a small smile in return, saying "Hello Jake."

"The usual?" Jacob, which was his given name, asked. Normally she would get a small black coffee with two teaspoons of sugar and a pint of almond flavoured milk, but today felt different. The nightmare must have had a bigger effect on her than she had initially thought, because for the first time since leaving Forks she asked for an extra large hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. She felt adventurous for the first time in a long time.

Another chime of the bell was heard in the small coffee shop. She had been studying the display of cupcakes, wondering if she could spear 4 dollars and 25 cents on a single treat this month, when she was distracted by the musical chimes announcing another patron's entrance to the shop.

"Morning sir," Jacobs chipper voice carried through the café.

"Good morning." She stopped breathing. That voice was like liquid honey slowly sliding down her throat, warming her belly and sending her heart racing.

She froze, scared shitless by her own reaction. How could such a simple voice affect her so?

Slowly, she straightened herself standing to her full height, anticipating a minor heart attack when the newcomer stepped up next to her at the counter, so she could catch a look at him.

He had this wicked smirk plastered on his face. Somehow she got the feeling the smirk was a hidden joke about her. She felt ridiculous as she tried to sneak a peak at him.

She drew a deep breath through her lips, squaring her shoulders and turning head on towards the stranger. He quirked a brow at her funny behaviour, the cheeky smirk turning into silent laughter.

He was laughing at her! 'How dare he!' she thought, blushing furiously as the annoyance towards this stranger bubbled in her stomach.

"Hello." Another smirk.

She sealed her lips shut. Staring straight into his eyes, she was blown away by their green colour. The closest thing she could think of to compare the colour with were a bright green emerald she recalled once seeing, in one of her history books in high school.

He laughed quietly; obviously realizing the girl wasn't about to give him a response. "Do you not speak?" He was egging her on. He found it rather amusing and intriguing as her skin turned pink and her eyes came alight with a fire he had yet to understand.

"Oh, I speak."

"And would you look at that, so she does." The response came instantaneously.

She breathed through her nose, fully intending on ignoring him. "You know that's a lovely colour on you," he gestured towards her.

"Excuse me?" she asked, generally confused as to what he meant.

"Your blush. It suits you very beautifully." He smiled.

She was dumbstruck. That is until the smirk reappeared on his otherwise handsome face. Then she was once again boiling on the inside. "Do I know you?" she stressed through her teeth, her tone clearly stating just how badly he was grating on her nerves.

She was amazed. She'd never had such a strong reaction to a stranger. She prided herself on being a quite mellow, peaceful person, who almost never let her temper run wild. Well that was one award of the year she should not anticipate receiving any time soon apparently.

"No, you don't." He smiled sweetly down at her, "but I know you."

-.-.-

"Excuse me?!"

"I have to admit, I'm fairly disappointed. I had imagined you to have a bigger vocabulary than that Miss Swan."

She stopped dead in her tracks. She had followed him out of the coffee shop, barely receiving her cup of adventure, before he stormed through the shop's narrow door.

"How do you know my name?"

He stopped walking, turning slightly towards her and gave her the smirk, while saying "I told you Miss Swan… I know you."

"I don't understand… Who are you?"

"Right now you don't have to understand." The smirk turned into a genuine smile this time, temporarily placating her nerves. "Understand, that you will, eventually. Right now you only have to follow me, alright?" He asked her.

She nodded, her voice suddenly lost.

She didn't know why she chose to follow him. It was like he had a string attached at her hips pulling her forward, making her take 2 rapid steps whenever he took one stride. She felt absolutely compelled to follow this mysterious man who claimed to know her.

'Maybe that was it,' she thought. 'He says he knows me, and I honestly have no idea who that is.'

She finally took the time to study her stranger. He was tall and well built. His hair resembled a failed bird's nest. Its auburn streaks glinted in the sunlight, making the brown hair appear slightly more copper-ish in colour. It was quite attractive on him.

Turning the ninth hundred corner she ran a few feet to catch up to him. He had at least 2 feet and a couple of inches on her measly height. She was certain most of it was by simple leg length. He had long, toned legs, which was encased in a pair of semi-tight dark jeans. She wanted to peel those pants slowly down his legs, revealing the well-defined skin she could sense lay beneath the fabric.

'What?!' she stopped abruptly. _'Fuck, that was one unwelcome thought right there,'_ she thought continuing in pursuit of her stranger.

Leaving the vision of his legs in her fantasy, she continued her perusal of him. He wore a fitted black leather jacket, with a checkered shirt underneath. Paired with his black Doc Martens boots, he came across as a badass Zorro-y type. 'My dark, mysterious stranger' she thought, and a smile slowly formed on her lips.

Her heart skipped a beat every time he glanced back to check on her. At this point he and her reactions fascinated her beyond belief.

"Um.. Sorry, sir, but you've yet to tell me exactly where we're going?" She spoke softly, tapping his shoulder.

He looked down at her with laughter in his eyes and said, "Sir? Seriously?"

"Yeah well, you didn't exactly introduce yourself, and since you already know who I am, I feel a bit at a disadvantage here." She replied with annoyance. He was seriously getting on her nerves.

He smiled. "Well we can't have that, now can we?" He laughed, reaching out to collect a stray piece of hair that had escaped her bun from power walking to keep up with him.

She drew in a sharp breath as soon as his fingers connected with the bare skin of her cheek. She could feel her blood rushing to the surface where he touched, trying to get as close to him as possible. "Are you gonna tell me your name or what?" she asked exasperated and frankly embarrassed by her own obvious attraction to this stranger.

He laughed. This time a full-blown belly laugh. The sound took her completely by surprise and she stepped back, retreating from the bubble they had seemed to be encased in when she asked the first question.

"Hey! Would you cut that out? It's seriously getting on my nerves and you really don't want that!" she yelled at him, now furious with his obvious amusement with her.

"Sorry sweetheart." He kept chuckling softly, trying to soften his smile to placate the obvious frustrated petite woman staring furiously at him. She was utterly entertaining. Such quick responses from her added to her charm, and he was becoming slightly addicted to her sweet blush when she got riled.

He had taken to long to tell her his name. She had had enough of this game he seemed to be playing. She turned on her heels and with rapid strides tried to get away from him and this crazy situation as quickly as possible.

She made it 6 feet before he grabbed her at the top of her shoulders, efficiently stopping her retrieval.

"Really, I am," he breathed, almost desperately "sorry."

"That's nice and all but it doesn't change the fact that I still don't know your name." She squared her shoulders and continued: "And while you're at it, please do enlighten me on why exactly you want me to follow you."

"My name's Edward Masen," he looked intently into her brown eyes, willing her to believe him when he told her what he was about to tell her. "And I'm here to bring you back."

"Back? Back where?"

He exhaled through his nose, "I'd rather share that bit of information somewhere slightly more private."

She looked at him, waiting for the smile to grace his facial features and he'd tell her April's Fool or something else similarly idiotic. He didn't. He stared back at her, not swaying from the seriousness she'd seen in his eyes ever since she started bickering. She felt slightly lightheaded, her heart hammering in her chest, trying to break free from its confines and run down the street, screaming bloody murder. "Are you going to kill me?" she asked him.

"God no! Why on earth would you think that?" he exclaimed.

"Well, normally when a total stranger lures you into a more private setting to 'tell all kinds of secrets', it means he or she is going to kill you." She explained, trying to calm her racing heart. She realised she sounded rather ridiculous, and was quite embarrassed when her inner voice of reason shouted at her: 'Which self-respecting serial-murderer would seriously tell his victim he planned on luring them away to kill them when they still had the chance to scream bloody murder, and be saved?' She caved, realising she'd been overreacting.

"And what do you suppose I should answer to that? I mean, do you seriously think I'd tell you if I planned on murdering you?" He was laughing at her and her crazy antics. He'd never encountered anyone quite as peculiar as her.

Oh how she wanted to dig a hole and hide in there forever when he laughed at her like that. She felt so ridiculous. "I don't appreciate your patronizing me." She murmured. "So if I have to follow you, can you at least tell me where we're going?"

"The library."

-.-.-

The smell of dust and paper filled her nostrils as soon as she stepped foot into the old part of the library. He had instructed her to meet him in this section of the library. She was an avid reader, in fact she thought she'd read pretty much every work of fiction you could imagine, but when she walked past shelves filled with books from times she'd never imagined, she doubted how avid a reader she really was.

"It's something, isn't it?" he was standing five feet behind her, observing her perusal of the shelves and the treasures they held.

"It's amazing," she breathed. "I never knew this place was here…" now she was mumbling to her self, slightly berating her obvious lack of exploration whenever she frequented the library in town.

He stepped next to her, efficiently blocking her movement down the aisle, getting her attention. "So, Isabella… I'm assuming you're assuming I brought you here for a reason." He smiled.

She laughed looking into his forest green eyes, "Figured that much, did'ya?"

"Yeah well, I do. You want to know why or not?"

She remained silent for a while, pondering his tone. He sounded as if she _should_ say: 'No, I don't' but really _wanted_ her to say: 'Hell yeah!'

He observed her silent behaviour, for the first time in a long time nervous of the outcome her response would bring with it. She got this little crease between her brows and she was biting on her bottom lip. He could almost see the gears turning in the crazy, little head of hers. She was adorable.

He turned his focus to the racks of books in front of them, trying to appear patient in waiting for her answer. He couldn't say he succeeded. But how could he stand here patiently, waiting for this petite woman to make a decision that had already been made for her? He should have just let Jay collect her. That would have made this whole scenario so much easier on any future explaining. They were supposed to be back by now, but thanks to one little, brown-haired, brown doe-eyed beauty, he was still in the beginning faze of her acceptance. That was unacceptable.

"Yes."

He did a double take, "Sorry, yes what?"

"You're not that bright are you?" she questioned with a glint in her eyes. "Yes, I'd like you to tell my why you brought me here."

"Oh…" _'Yeah no shit Sherlock. You really aren't that bright' _he thought. "Follow me."

"This shit again – can't you just tell me?" she whined. She'd had enough of his skirting around the problem.

"I need to show you to tell you."

She paused, "show me what exactly?"

"You'll see." The smirk was back.

As were her anger.

"Oy! You -my friend- is not going to cut any more corners! You tell me, and you tell me right now, what this is about! How do you know me?" She took deliberate steps towards him, "what's your game?" She was poking him in his chest trying to emphasize her annoyance with his constant dismissal and avoidance of admitting how he knew her.

He grabbed her probing finger, frankly annoyed and slightly amused by this small girl's behaviour. "Relax princess. I'm trying to tell you, but as I stated before: I have to _show _you!" he stressed the 'show' part of his speech trying and hoping to get her to shot up long enough for him to find it.

She pulled her hand away from his grasp disturbed by the tingling sensation his touch had elicited in her. "Don't call me that."

Oh he had to tease her now. "No can do princess. I rather like that endearment for you sweetheart."

She sighed, admitting defeat.

He was staring into her eyes as if she was the greatest mystery on earth. She was getting fed up by him, but for some reason she couldn't seem to leave. The string on her hip was once again back keeping her firmly planted by his sided as he strode down the aisle they'd stopped in when they started arguing.

He made a turn going down a separate isle. A light above flickered when they passed a small desk with a pile of old, worn books on it. Initially she was a bit freaked out by the scary-movie theme going on in the library, and the fact that nobody knew she was here with him alone. _'Let's face it, you don't know that many people to inform of your whereabouts in the first place, but still…' _she thought.

Suddenly he stopped, pulling a book from the shelf in front of them. Unlike any of the other books in the old part of the library, this one was in pristine condition. '_Either it didn't belong in the library or someone had made sure this one book was taken well care of.' _She thought, trying to sneak a peak at the cover of the book.

It didn't have a title, just the number 0 embedded in the leather of the cover. He fingered the small indentation of the material, wondering if it would work.

"Isabella," he started, keeping his focus solely on the book in front of them. "You have your mother's locket?"

-.-.-

**Author's note: **_Thanks to those of you who follows, likes or commented on the story. I'm flattered by your silent praise, and hope this second instalment is to your liking. I'm currently writing Chapter 2, so please keep an eye out for teasers and updates on my blog:_

www . weird . universeofdamm . dk (remove spaces or see my profile)

_I'd also like to encourage all readers to review. It's the only way for me to really know what you think of the story so far, and if you'd like for it to continue._

_I would like to make a quick shout-out to my first reviewers _quietlystrong _and _SunflowerFran _and say thank you!_

…_Toodles, nomdeplume. Oh and happy reading!_


	3. Chapter 2: Filia Reginae Pauones

**THE LOCKET**

**Chapter 2**

"**Filia Reginae Pauones"**

**-.-.-**

She was dumbfounded. How could he possibly know about her mother's locket?

Instinctively her hand went to the jewellery hidden beneath her shirt. She had always had the jewellery on her body, keeping it as close to her heart as her outfit allowed. It belonged to her mother and it was the only reminder she allowed herself to keep of her.

"Isabella, your locket." He inquired impatiently.

She hesitated for a second before retrieving the pendant. She curled her hand protectively around the shell and looked with distrust at her stranger. "Why? What do you need it for?" she asked.

"I need what's inside the locket. It's a key."

"Inside?" she looked at him with questions in her eyes. "I didn't even know it could open," she mumbled, speaking more to her self than for his benefit.

"You never opened it? Weren't you curious about the content inside the locket?" he was astounded.

This time she spoke up: "No, I didn't know it could do that."

"Well then. Let's open it and see."

She looked down at her hand, which had remained tightly clasped around the locket. Slowly she willed her fingers to uncurl from their grasp, revealing a round bronze locket. A peacock adorned the face of the locket, its tail feathers standing proud and each bedecked with one red ruby in the centre.

But this time when she looked at the locket, with which she considered herself very familiar, she noticed the emerald gemstone representing the peacock's eye very much resembled the colour of Edward's.

He looked down into her hands perusing the locket for the first time. It very much resembled what he had imagined it to look like, and felt a small sense of satisfaction in knowing this might work for him.

"Can I?" he asked tentatively since she seemed particularly sensitive with everything concerning this possession of hers.

She silently yielded, handing him the jewellery. Carefully she placed it into his awaiting palm, once again blown away by the energy surging through her when her fingers came into contact with the skin of his hand.

"Thank you," he said in soft tones, slightly turning the locket so the head of the peacock faced him. The locket had the mechanics to open on the side. He studied the lock and wondered how exactly he would get it open.

"What now?" she asked.

"Just give me a minute."

When he had been staring at the locking device of the locket for 3 minutes, she became impatient.

"Don't you know what you're doing?"

He hesitated but continued staring intensely at the entrapment before him, "I don't exactly know how to open it. We were never told…"

"What? Who never told you?" She looked at him with her brows drawn together and a frown marred the corners of her lips.

This time he looked at her with annoyance. "'Who' is not your concern! Anyway, they obviously didn't tell me, so that leaves this discussion at a moot point, don't you think?" he stated with annoyance at her enquiry.

"Not really no." she rebutted.

He drew in a breath through his nose, his nostrils flaring at her. "Oh really, how so? Please do inform me _princess!_" he stressed his nickname for her, knowing it would annoy her. He knew it was petty of him to goad her, but he was infuriated by this utter powerlessness not knowing how to open the locker left him with.

"You are impossible! Do you ever answer what you're asked? Or is it only my questions you refuse to acknowledge?" Her cheeks were flaming red by now and she could feel her heartbeat pounding in her chest. "And _don't_ call me that," she added.

Their eyes were interlocked during the entire discussion. They didn't notice they had moved slightly towards each other, so only his hand holding the locket remained in the space between them. His fingertips were pressed against the fabric of her shirt and pressing into the soft skin of her upper-abdomen. She could see every imperfection of his facial skin; the slight stubble on his chin and a small scar in the corner of his right eye. He felt her breath puffing against the top of his neck and chin and his lips parted slightly, his own breath panting onto her forehead.

And standing like that they both felt the tension between them spark with an intensity neither had ever experienced before. It was like the air surrounding them were filled with electricity and they were the poles attracting the electrical sparks. They were repelling and attracting each other at the same time, neither of them able to move away from or closer to the other.

His fingers twitched against her where they rested on her stomach. His touch sent warm butterflies flying through her body. She was panting at this point, completely unfamiliar with the sensations flowing inside her. When she looked back into his eyes, she was once again taken aback by the colour and emotion displayed in his. He was staring straight back into her chocolate ones with a burning jade, the green of his own turning darker closer to the pupil. The intensity of his stare sent her mind spinning, and she drew in a quick breath, the air squeezing through her soft, ruby lips and disturbing the air of sizzling electricity.

He drew back astounded by the power she seemed to have over him. He had been absolutely focused on every little aspect of her, yet hadn't noticed the fact that there barely remained 4 inches between them before the enchantment that seemed to befall them lifted. She was dangerous.

She observed his retrieval with questions in her eyes. Questions in the nature of _'what was that'_ were on the forefront of her mind. But if she were to be honest with herself questions like _'why did he withdraw'_ hid beneath the other ones, pushing their way to the forefront.

She shook her head trying to rid herself completely of the thoughts invading her mind. They weren't welcome. In fact her entire behaviour since she stumbled after him in the coffee shop was alien to her.

A creeping silence filled the air around them. It descended upon them, making her twitch her fingers and shuffling her feet. She was nervous.

She avoided looking into his eyes, instead focusing on her locket still lying in his palm.

"So how do we open it?" She was the first to break the silence, still avoiding eye contact.

He hesitated. "I don't know."

He was studying the locket, trying to come up with a way to open it. He briefly entertained the notion of trying to break it up with force, but he had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate him going bonkers on her locket.

He turned the locket on its side sticking his thumbnail into the locking devices, trying to pry it open. It didn't budge in the slightest and he put more force into his antics.

She was appalled. Was he trying to wreck it?

She grabbed for the locket making contact with his finger still lodged inside the lock. And that's when they heard it. A slight click sounded from the small pendant. They both froze staring into the other's eyes.

Carefully she removed her hand from his taking the locket with her. It opened with ease as she held it in her palm between them.

Nestled inside the locket was a small silver coin. She didn't know what she had expected to show on the inside of the jewellery, but was slightly disappointed it weren't some form of memorabilia of her mother, or even a picture. Didn't lockets normally hold pictures inside of them?

Instead she gazed upon the small silver coin. It seemed rather antique and couldn't have been a form of currency. At least not one she knew of. The side of the coin facing towards them was adorned with yet another peacock. _'What was with this obsession with birds?'_ she thought.

"What is this?" she asked.

"You don't know? Don't you recognize it?" He was more curious than anything else. _'She really don't know what all this is about,'_ he thought.

"No, I've never seen this before."

He took the coin from the locket contemplating what was best. To tell her and risk her not believing him or let her see for herself and be forced to believe. He opted on the last option. He really couldn't afford the first one, too much were at stake.

"Just watch," he calmed her, picking up the book he'd sat back upon the shelf during their staring contest. He turned the cover so the book turned towards her, and placed the coin into the small indention of the book. It fit perfectly. "Turn it," he ordered her.

She hesitated for just a second, before placing the tip of her index finger upon the edge of the coin. The peacock was placed upside-down, and she turned it until it was sitting correctly in the hole.

As soon as the coin was placed correctly in the cover she removed her finger, watching in awe as the coin began glowing enhancing the shape of the peacock.

"What's happening?"

"It's a key. It'll allow us to open the book." He was staring at her petite form, amazed and a little relieved the coin worked.

She was still staring intently down at the coin, which was beginning to melt away into the cover. Only the peacock stood proud against the leather, while the background of the coin glided into the book. Meanwhile letters began appearing on the otherwise nameless cover, descripting: _'Filia Reginae Pauones'_.

She tentatively touched the letters, marvelling at the beautiful inscription. "What does it mean?" she asked him, staring briefly into his eyes before returning her gaze to the book.

"It's Latin," he said. "It means Queens Daughter of Peacocks." He was staring at her, trying to gauge her reaction.

"You know Latin?" she questioned, surprised and somewhat pleased by this new information.

He was looking at her funnily. "Yes I do. I learned Latin, as well as French and Spanish, a long time ago," he mused. She had bewitched him. That was certainly not the reaction he'd anticipated from her, and he was rather bewildered towards her behaviour.

"Oh…" she paused, "That's impressive." She didn't know how to react. She'd learned a sliver of Spanish during her high school years, but could not exactly brag about her mad foreign language skills. "What does it mean?"

"What does what mean?" he asked.

"'_The princess of birds'_-thing," she inclined towards the book.

He paused, running his index finger along the first letters. "Well, it's an old urban legend really." He looked towards her, trying to yet again gauge her reaction. "It should be in here somewhere." He looked back to the book, tapping twice onto the cover, encouraging her to open it and read for herself.

She reached for the book, taking it from his grasp and slowly opened it to reveal the first pages. An envelope, which had been nestled between some of the pages of the book, came free and glided to the floor of the library. It landed in a flowing motion face down, and Edward bent at the knees, retrieving the object from its position on the ground.

He turned it in his hand, reading the name of the person the letter was addressed for. His shock was short-lived as he realised the letter was for the woman standing before him.

He met her questioning stare. "It's addressed for you," he handed her the letter, grazing the palm of her hand as he retrieved his own. He realised he had this urge to touch her as much as possible, and physically felt his heart beating at double speed whenever his skin came into contact with hers. _'This is dangerous,'_ he thought.

She turned the letter twice in her small hand, briefly handing him the open book. She studied the lettering at the front correctly addressing the letter for Isabella M. Swan. She didn't recognize the writing, and was rather trepid opening it.

"Don't open it."

She startled. "Why not?"

"I don't know, but read this." He pushed the book towards her, showing her the inscription of the preface.

'_Dear unknown,_

_I'm assuming you're successful in introducing my daughter to our world, since you've accomplished getting this far in the process as reading these words._

_This book is, as you well should know, a heritage from my husband's sister and should very well serve the purpose of satisfying whatever questions my daughter might have._

_As you'll discover I've added a personal letter for her, which I ask you to give to her and instruct her to read when she feels ready. This means she should not read it before discovering what this book has to tell her and not before she's alone._

_I'm counting on you to do right by our values and thank you!_

_Sincerely, Regina vestra.'_

She silently turned the page and was even more perplexed by what showed on the next pages. The left page contained a hidden one, and when she unfolded the paper from its place nestled into the centre, it revealed a map.

The map had an almost pirate-y feel to it. She suddenly felt like she was 5 years old again, running around her backyard on her birthday, trying to locate the hidden treasure her dad had brought out here for her. She'd spent many a birthdays and grand occasions chasing treasures and presents around their house and yard.

She refolded the hidden page, saving her studying of the map for a later time, and preferable a time when she had satisfied her need to find out what the rest of the book contained.

A few pages into the book showed nothing but a few artistic swirls. They seemed to be hand painted on the paper and not one painting was similar to the previous one. Some swirls were in bright colours while others were subtler in their expression. She was studying the pages of painting trying to decide whether they meant anything significant or if they were only added to the book to give it an artistic expression.

She turned another page and was briefly surprised by the writing. She had almost anticipated the book to only contain art by the time she'd passed the fifth page of artistic and colourful swirls. She let out a breath through her lips, her eyes scanning the words before her.

"What does it say?"

He was studying her, trying to determine what the letters on the page between them said, but honestly, the book was upside down and the letters were fairly small to begin with. Besides patience was never a strong suit of his.

"Hmm… It seems to be a fairy tale of sorts." She replied.

"Well then, read it." He hurried her.

"Aloud?"

"If you like to," he was smiling softly; trying to lay of the pressure that he wanted her to read it aloud to him. He was equally curious as to what the writing contained and to hear her soft, melodic voice narrate it to him.

"_Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away, a king ruled. He was a noble king, one not unkind to even the lowest scum of his subjects. No, his people loved him, and he them. But the one he adored most of all was his queen. She granted him 3 beautiful children; a boy, a girl and another boy. He lived in harmony in his small kingdom, a true family, together and happy._

"_But The Queen was only at her happiest in her vegetable garden. She adored the labour involved with caring for her plants and vegetables, and she was particularly proud of a small display of strawberry plants. Every day she nurtured the plants, watching them grow, their stems shooting through the earth and rising towards the mother of all life, the sun._

"_One morning on her peaceful walk to the gardens, the Queen felt overcome with darkness, roughly forcing her to bow into the dirt beneath her golden slippers. A knight was patrolling through the garden and jumped to her aid when she crumbled. He carried her to the king, who was beside himself with worry. He sent word to fetch the royal physician._

"_The King was heartbroken when the doctor announced The Queen had fallen ill to a disease, and he were not be able to cure her. So The King trusted his Kingdom to his eldest son, Aerondale, while he set out to find a cure that could save his wife from the terrible faith that had befallen her."_

Bella paused, staring blankly at the pages and the colourful drawings that surrounded the script. "What does it all mean?" she looked at him with question in her eyes, hoping he would give her the answer. She was prepared for disappointment. He had yet to disclose a single answer to any of her questions this far, so it was surprising for her when he answered.

"I've heard this tale before. When I was a kid, my mother used to read it aloud for me and my brother." He mused. "My father said it was simply a tale made by child's imagination, but my mother refused to acknowledge that. She insisted the story originated from behind the walls of the castle-"

"Castle?!" she interrupted him, slightly disturbed and honestly a little intrigued by the fairy tale and his account. "Is this some sort of joke?"

He looked timidly at her, realising how this must sound to her ears. "Isabella, I'm not from here…" He paused, gauging her reaction. She remained stoic before him, refusing to budge and mistakenly provide him with an out of explaining this to her. "You aren't either. We're from another realm, you and I. Here by accident and choice. I was sent here to bring you back, to guide you back to your real world."

Her jaw slackened from its hold, shaping her red lips into a small 'o'. She was speechless and frozen in her position, holding the book tightly in her trembling hands.

"I don't know what this story has to do with you," he mused. "I recall it ending happily ever after, as most stories do, whenever my mother told it." He pried the book from her hold, turning the page and pausing, before reading aloud.

"_The King travelled the country far and wide, searching desperately for some word or help to stop his queen's suffering. He travelled from the eastern forests of vigour to the barren plains of the west, up to the freezing temperatures of the north and down to the scorching heat of The Dragon Valley of the south._

"_He searched the kingdom, high and wide, returning after 3 years to his kingdom with no cure, and no enthusiasm to lessen the blow on his awaiting family."_

Edward turned yet another page, looking towards the girl briefly. He licked his lips and continued reading.

"_Upon his return, his eldest son Aerondale had fled the kingdom, leaving the responsibility of ruling the people in the hands of his only daughter, Caromin, and youngest son, Carleon, who had yet to reach his seventeenth year. The Queen had fallen deeper ill, rambling of strawberries and rays of sun, when one of her servants or family visited her by her sick bed._

"_The King was in deep despair of the loss he suffered. He lost a son as a consequence to his quest to save his queen._

"_It was on the forth night of his return to the Kingdom The King stumbled upon an old servant watering the plants of the queens beloved vegetable garden. He was appalled by this old witch's audacity, mending and caring for something that was not hers to care upon._

" '_Tell me, beldam – what is your purpose here in the royal gardens?' he inquired of the old lady, seconds away from unsheathing his blade from its place on his hip._

" '_You'd be wise to stand down my king,' the old hag sneered at him, predicting his move to force his blade on her. 'I'd hate for you to miss an opportunity you've been searching for in the last 3 years.'_

" '_Of what are you speaking witch?' The King raised his voice towards the hag, trying to scare her into submission."_

He licked his lips one more time, this time catching her fleeting look at his pink tongue peeking out through his burgundy lips. He snorted slightly at her, leaving her equally mortified and embarrassed. Not because she looked as much as by being caught.

She snapped the cover of the book closed with a resounding _clang_ and grabbed it out of his hold.

"I need some fresh air," she stated, turning on her heels and leaving the library.

-.-.-

**Author's note: **_The second chapter at your disposal! Please treat it nicely. I had some trouble with this particular chapter. It's no picnic to build up a story in a story, and I honestly have no idea yet, if it's going to be as successful as I'd like it to be._

_As always I would sincerely appreciate a review from all readers – or just some of you. The more the merrier. I do thank those of you who have reviewed on the previous chapters. Please know I dearly appreciate your thoughts on my story._

_Besides that, remember to keep an eye out for teasers and extras of "The Locket" on my blog: www . weird . universeofdamm . dk (remove spaces or go to my profile)_

_I'm also online on twitter now, where I'll announce teasers, pictures, grafics, news and new chapters of all of my stories! Follow me nmdplmfiction_

…_Toodles, nomdeplume … and happy reading..._


	4. Chapter 3: Bedtime Stories

**THE LOCKET**

**Chapter 3**

"**Bedtime Stories"**

**-.-.-**

This was not how she had imagined today going. She had imagined she would get her regular coffee as she always did, walk around her local park, feeding some of the pigeons with the left over of her morning croissant, getting to work by no later than 9 o'clock and return home for a nice dinner and maybe a movie.

Instead she found herself wandering near the harbour, watching seagulls fight over a hidden object in the surface of the water.

She sighed, checking briefly over her shoulder, confirming her stranger had in fact followed her on her walk to the waterfront. He was keeping a safe distance from her, probably to allow her some time to think, and breathe, before he attacked her with more confusing and frankly overwhelming information about a world she had no relation to.

She was looking at everything and nothing when she passed the life surrounding her. People were bustling past her this morning. Many were dressed in clothes suitable for hours behind a desk, some were dressed in workout clothes, taking an early run before the mundane tasks of every day life filled their hours and others were casually strolling around, enjoying the fresh breeze of the sea and the mild August morning.

When she wasn't focussing on the people walking past her and their purpose for being here with her at this exact time and place on this morning, her mind took her somewhere far, far away. Thoughts like 'who is he?' and 'what was she supposed to do about him? About the book and her mother's locket?' filled her mind with varying answers, not one of them fully satisfying her curious mind.

She continued down the harbour, only briefly pausing to remove her shoes and socks when the docks floated into sand. Her toes curled around the small grains of sand and she relinquished in the feeling of letting her thoughts dissolve into the ground crumbling beneath her feet. She almost felt the tension, which had been building in her shoulders since their time in the library, travel past her upper body, down her hips and snaking along her legs before it assembled beneath the soles of her feet in a final attempt to cling to her, before she shook it off and began moving through the sandbanks.

He had been observing her from afar, trying to judge what time would be appropriate for him to lead her back to their conversation. She'd obviously been overwhelmed by something he had told her or something she had read in the book.

Honestly he had been slightly annoyed by the content of the book. He'd been told the book would provide certain answers for her, answers he couldn't begin to fathom how to answer sufficiently. In other words, he was counting on the book to do the work for him. It just seemed that it didn't.

She was continuing on ahead, once in a while looking over her shoulder and catching a glimpse of her stranger's statuesque build, his strides through the sand determined and confident. She felt out of breath whenever she caught sight of him walking in pursuit of her.

About a half a mile down the beach she stopped, breathing heavily. She wasn't out of shape but the trek through the sand, toppled with her difficulty of catching her breath when she caught a glimpse of Edward, had left her breathless.

She looked at him, inviting him with her eyes to join her when she rather gracelessly dumped her behind into the sand she'd just stepped on.

He had paused when she had, so in tune to her movements, he hadn't even noticed he had stopped before she reckoned for him to join her. He was carrying the book from the library under one arm, having caught up to her once on her stroll and taken it from her when she seemed to be struggling to carry the extra weight, and wrestling through the last path of heavy sand before he swiftly sat down next to her.

"You okay?" he asked. He had been worried about the cause of her silence. The fact that she'd closed the book on him and stalked out of the library had caught him completely by surprise, and he didn't see this as a normal trait of hers.

"Honestly?" she questioned, to which he gave a slight nod. "Not really."

"Why is that?"

"Are you serious? Why do you think that is?" The words fell heatedly from her lips. "I am sitting here, by the water, with a totally stranger, who claims to know of my 'real life' – whatever that's supposed to mean – and have yet to actually give me one simple fact about what this is all about!" she rambled.

He fell silent watching her eyes come alight with something akin to anger, but he couldn't for certain determine if the emotion was directed at him or created by her frustration given her situation.

"Would you please tell me something? I don't care what it is, but please – just give me a reason to stay here on this beach with you. Because frankly, I'm two seconds away from leaving your sorry ass behind to dust of the sand beneath us…" she felt the truth to her words, the conviction she felt overwhelming her. Honestly she was scared by the prospect of him not wanting to tell her what she needed to hear – whatever that was – and leading to her having to leave him here.

"Look…" he paused. "I don't know what to tell you. All I know is, that I was supposed to convince you to read the book," he briefly gestured to the book he had placed in the space between them when he had sat down, and continued, "and when you read it, wait for you to instruct me on what action to take next."

She was about to disturb his musings, not satisfied with his explanation, but he held up a hand, slightly wiggling his digits at her.

"I do know I'm supposed to 'escort' you back to where I'm from," he added, curling his hand into a fist and slowly lowering it back into the sand, opening the communication between them once again for her to respond.

She didn't. She simply stared at him for a long time, finally determining he knew something he was reluctant to share with her. Why exactly, she couldn't fathom, but oddly enough she settled for his story, in an attempt to placate her own mind.

She picked up the book spreading it in her lap, flapping through the pages until she reached the section where she had interrupted his reading in the library.

" … '_I'd hate for you to miss an opportunity you've been searching for in the last 3 years.'_

'_Of what are you speaking witch?' The King raised his voice towards the hag, trying to scare her into submission."_

She sighed, fingering the letters on the page while she studied the painting that accompanied the text on the opposite site. It painted a picture of an armour-clad man standing on a path along flowerbeds and vegetables, slightly further down the path stood an old hunchbacked lady, her face sneered in an ugly pout and a crooked finger pointing accusingly towards the man in silver.

"_The hag cackled at The King, her rusty and crooked voice filling the space between the two figures. 'You need me to help you dear child.' She goaded him._

_The King was staring at this unusual creature before him. He had never set his eyes on something quite so ugly in his kingdom, and her appearance scared him. He thought himself to be a fool, feeling foolish feelings of fright over an old lady._

'_What could I – The King – ever need your help with?' He was a pompous king at times, his self-worth highly exceeding that of others. His compassion lay only with his people and his queen, and the witch before him was definitely not either one of those._

'_Oh you foolish king, one day you'll soon learn to appreciate the help given to you.' The old hag looked degradingly at The King, saying the only thing that would make the man before her bow down low into the dirt and worship her at her feet: 'You wish to save your dear queen – I can help you with that.'_

_The King jumped into action, bringing his blade forth and pressing it into the old witch's throat, putting pressure on the weapon while spitting out: 'You _will _tell me of what you know about saving The Queen!'_

_The old hag just cackled even louder than before, seemingly unaffected by the grand man pressing his blade into her life. The King growled at the old lady for finding him humorous when he was dead serious and pressed the weapon tighter against her throat until he drew a slight line of blood along the edge of the blade._

_A drop of blood flowed slowly down the centre of the blade, its burgundy colour turning almost purple when it hit the shaft of the sword."_

She was once again reading aloud, not really for his benefit she decided, but more to better understand the words on the paper in front of her. _'It's just a fairy tale,' _she thought, very confused and mostly annoyed by how that was supposed to help her understand her fascination by the man sitting next to her and what he meant when he told her, she was from another world.

He was once again studying her. She had stopped reading, simply watching the words on the paper in front of her. The breeze from the water was picking up random strands of her hair, keeping it airborne for a couple of seconds, before releasing the chocolate brown curls to fall haphazardly against the porcelain skin of her forehead or cheek. She would reach out with a short, but very feminine finger, to reposition the misplaced curl and lick her plumb, ruby lips, before she turned to another page and picked up reading anew. She was gorgeous.

" '_Speak witch, or watch me bring you to your undoing!" The King was furious._

'_I know of a cure that will save your dear queen… But my help don't come without a price.' The old hag spitted into The King's face, having him retreat slightly from his hold on her being._

_As soon as The King stepped a bit away from the old hag, she waved her left hand in a grand gesture. A billow of smoke surrounded the two bodies, The King's sword disappearing between his fingers. The old hag had gone and in her place stood a beautiful, young lady, her hand outstretched between them._

'_What did you do with the witch?!' The King was desperate now. He needed to save his queen._

'_Oh, but I am her my king.' The lady pointed grandly to her own body, and for a split second when she grinned at The King, he saw the semblances to the old hag's features. 'But enough with all these games, I'm no longer in the mood for them… You wish to save your queen, yes?'_

'_Yes,' was his strong and determined response._

_The hag sneered at him once again, her eyes shining brightly. 'Well then, listen carefully:' and then the hag recited an old nursing rhyme The King had heard in his youth._

'_Found thee one love  
__who is not simply earth  
__bound?  
__One who is staring  
__upon a blank new chapter  
__in another world  
__in another time.  
__You will sacrifice  
__an object of significance  
__and your love will  
__be spared.'_

_The King raged. How was he supposed to interpret a poem, when all he needed was concrete answers of how to save his queen? He ordered the old hag to be imprisoned, held for eternity and longer, until the day she would reveal how he could save his queen._

_Upon bringing the old hag down to the cellars of the castle, she screamed furiously towards The King: 'You imbecile! You should be thanking me, providing me with all my hearts desire and instead you waste your life and your queen's by imprisoning me. Heed my warnings, my king, you will regret this!'_

_It was only later in the day, when The King spoke with his daughter and youngest son, Caromin and Carleon, that they brought to his attention that they might have to follow what the poem meant to say to save the queen._

_The King was ecstatic, sending word for the kingdom's best artists. They worked on the poem for a forth night, but by the end of another day, The King had had enough of the missing progress. His queen was caving to the fever, the royal physician not able to delay the inevitable any more._

_The King had failed his queen, and had not found the cure to her sickness. A month following The Queen's passing led The King into various battles with neighbouring kingdoms, and subsequently to his own end."_

"What sort of fairy tale is this?!" She was upset. The poor man had tried everything to help safe the love of his life, and yet they both had to suffer a terrible fate. She had always been a sucker for the _happily ever after_-part of the fairy tales, and this one was a great disappointment.

"It's not a fairy tale."

She startled. She'd completely forgotten about the stranger sitting next to her and she looked at him with big round eyes, searching his for an explanation.

He cleared his throat, slightly taken aback by the look of utter despair displayed in her brown eyes. The pain of losing a loved one shone brightly through all her features, and he marvelled at the all-encompassing feeling of dread that spread through him when she looked into his eyes.

"What do you mean it's not a fairy tale? Didn't you just say it was a bedtime story your mother told you?" she asked confused.

"It was a bedtime story my mother used to tell me, yes, but I remember it differently. The King figured out what he had to sacrifice to save The Queen and they lived happily ever after. I fear this is not as much the bedtime story I was told, as it is the story of how our kingdom fell to madness." He was fingering the picture of The King standing bowed over a headstone in the middle of the bushes and plants too overgrown to see what sort of fruit or flower they possessed of The Queen's vegetable garden. "The story is very much like what we were told growing up and preparing for various battles. They would always shout: _'ad reginam' _when we went to war, but we never understood why. Maybe…" he mused, now staring out onto the waves lapping at the edge of the beach, their calming sound sending his thoughts far away to another time and place.

She was looking at him, curious as to where his mind had travelled, and gingerly she placed her hand on top of his, which was still circling the painting of the last page of the book.

She should have been prepared for it, but when her skin once again touched his, her skin came alive with energy and her breath was caught in her throat, until she had to clear it, so she wouldn't faint. That would be embarrassing. "What does it mean? The part about the land turning into madness-thing?"

"It means just that." He paused his voice breaking slightly before he continued in a slightly more subdued tone. "I grew up in a world where war and inconsolable differences ruled every day. Our king resembled the one told about in the story, but the pictures don't resemble him." He mused with knitted brows.

She studied the picture he was pointing at. It portrayed a man clad in silver armour with coal-black hair and bright, blue eyes. "The king I knew to rule our country had brown hair, almost almond-coloured, and grey eyes. But I heard rumours of a time in our country where love and life roamed free and you needn't worry every day about your own or your family's changes of surviving."

"So you grew up surrounded by war? When did it end?"

"It's very much still occurring," he looked pointedly at her, trying to convey some sort of hidden message. She didn't get it.

"But didn't you say you used to be a soldier? If a war is still occurring, why aren't you participating?" She feared his answer to her questions. For some reason she didn't see him as a coward, who would have fled his family and obligations to avoid the horrifying ramifications of war.

"Well, I am still a soldier…" He was breathing heavily now, slightly offended by what she insinuated. "I were relocated on a different mission than my brothers. Frankly I thought you would have connected the dots by now princess."

He was goading her! "What's your deal?!" Her pupils were dilating in anger and her breath was pressing through her lips, the tight squeeze creating a swishing sound. "You've explained absolutely nothing to me. And _frankly _I'm sick and tired of this game of cat and mouse you've started. Tell me what your business with me is, or I will-"

"Easy there tiger," he interrupted her ranting. "Jesus, do you ever breathe? I didn't honestly mean to offend you, I'm just taken aback by the fact that you're totally clueless to what this all mean." He gestured to the book and her locket. "I figured you were informed to some extent. I wasn't aware I had to explain everything to you, and to be completely honest; I don't even know half of the story you need to be told. That was what the book was for!" He was exasperated.

"Yeah well, consider me completely clueless then," she spit out the word _clueless_, somehow the way he said it caused her stomach to drop into her feet as if all the air had been punched out of her. "And then please do _inform_ me of what you expected me to know, since obviously I don't!"

"Alright then…" he paused and looked out onto the water, trying to prepare himself for what he was about to tell her and how to do it. "Well as I said, the world I grew up to know were plagued by wars rooting in something that happened a long, long time ago. Most of the people living in our kingdom don't know of the real reason of why we are at constant war with unseen enemies. We just know of war and destruction and of nothing else."

A cold breeze lifted the heavy air between them, giving new energy to him as he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, fully seeing his small village plagued by various warriors travelling through each year to gather the boys that had come of age to travel to war. "My sister, she was a real spitfire – much like yourself princess" he smiled wistfully, and a warm sensation filled her body, making her toes curl slightly in the sand below them. He looked sensational, sitting there in the sand next to her, his head bent backwards so it seemed the back of his scalp rested peacefully on the top of his back, and with a small crooked smile adorning his relaxed expression. If it hadn't been for him opening his emerald eyes and staring imploringly at her at that moment, she would have thought him to be asleep.

She blushed and caught her breath. "What happened to your sister?"

"I don't know. I left her there." Every inch of his being screamed pain at her, and she had a sudden urge to bring him into a tight hug. The kind of hug only a mother could provide her child with when they hurt their knees on the asphalt skating with their friends. She wanted to comfort him.

"She was a couple of years older than me, a maid at the royal palace. She found me one night in the barracks placed outside the castle in a panic, stating I had to leave immediately. I didn't even get to say a proper goodbye to my parents." He was remembering the events of the cold night she'd caught him wandering about with his Commanding Officer. "She said I had to be the one to stop the suffering. At first I figured she meant fight in the battles until our country claimed the victory, but she seemed appalled I'd think she would want me to fight in the battles. I mean, I were a soldier for quite some time before she stopped me that night, so honestly that was the only way I knew of to bring the wars to an end."

"What did she tell you to do then?"

Edward looked at her, his eyes smouldering into her brown ones. "I think I already told you that princess. I'm here to bring you back to our world."

-.-.-

"But why me?"

A dead silence had followed them as her brain had tried to make sense of what he was telling her.

"I don't know." He told her. "She said I had to find the woman who lived in a different world than ours, and bring her back. She said you would know how as soon as I showed you the content of the book." He pulled a crinkled paper from the back pocket of his jeans, slowly unfolding it with his long and strong fingers.

She was following the vein running from the base of his middle finger, across the dorsum and up his forearm until it disappeared beneath the leather of his jacket.

He had stilled every movement, waiting for her reaction to what was on the paper he held out for her to see. But she seemed to be staring intently the sleeve of his jacket as if it was the enemy and she had to slay it. He grinned and let his imagination run wild with thoughts of _why_ she would look at his jacket with such hate. If he were being honest, he wouldn't mind stripping the jacket from his body since her stare sent warm tingles through him wherever she looked.

He cleared his throat and motioned for the paper he was still holding out between them when her eyes snapped up to his. A blush adorned the fair skin of her cheeks, traveling past her neck and spreading its rose colour to the top of her chest. He was slightly distracted by how far down the blush might spread, and had a sudden urge to _strip her_ of her jacket to see for himself the extent of the lovely trait of hers.

"What is this?!" she exclaimed rather loudly that made a nearby seagull screech as depart to fly away from whatever brought the outburst with it. He envied that seagull for a short moment, before she roughly pulled the paper from between his fingers. "Who-? Why-?" she stuttered, before taking a deep breath, her stare solely focused on the lines on the paper in front of her. "How did you get this? Did you make it?"

"I didn't. My sister gave it to me. Told me I had to find the one painted on the paper, and bring her back home. That you would be what we need to end the war going on in our world."

Looking down at the paper in front of her she was amazed by the artistic beauty of the person in front of her. She knew it was supposed to be her, but in some way the drawing seemed to be a better version of her. Underneath the drawing was scribbled three words that made her breath catch in her throat.

"Filia Reginae Pauones"

-.-.-

**Author's note: **

_Wow… This was by far one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. I had to build a chapter around a story, which consists of two hidden stories! That was a small spoiler right there…_

_Also, many of you have expressed your wish to know what the hell is going on – pardon my French. I do have a plot planned for this little baby, and hence there's a meaning with the plotline this far. The story might seem confusing at this point in time, but I promise every question you might have, will be addressed and properly answered! _

_Once again I thank you who have reviewed the chapters this far, and once again encourages all of you to review once you've read this chapter._

_Up next: We get to see what the Queen have to say to this whole ordeal and then our two heroes are embarking on a new journey together!_

…_Toodles, nomdeplume – oh, and happy reading._


	5. Chapter 4: Sulpicia

**THE LOCKET**

**Chapter 4**

"**Sulpicia"**

-.-.-

_She had been walking across the field with a massive squared book under her arm and with her shoulders squared and her delicate neck elongated which made her head seem to be held high and made her seem taller than she really was. She was a tiny little thing, always had been, and she hated it._

_Edward had noticed her when she was 30 yards away. He had been wandering about the compound, discussing strategies with Sgt Whitlock and trying to distance himself from his obnoxious bunkmates. _

_When she finally met up with the two wandering soldiers, she'd been completely occupied with her thoughts and subsequently her mission that she didn't initially noticed the tall blond stranger standing slightly next to her brother. When she did notice him, her breath caught in her throat and she fumbled to form the words that had occupied her mind seconds before._

_He had never seen her flustered. It was slightly disturbing yet mostly amusing to experience his otherwise omniscient and bright sister speechless._

_Edward had goaded her at first, before she had collected herself and brought the severity of the situation down upon him. Sgt Whitlock did initially offer to go through with the mission – after all he was the more experienced of the two and was of a higher rank than Edward – but Alice, his sister, had insisted that Edward would be the one to go through with the mission._

_When he had initially set eyes on the finished project of Alice's drawing, he was speechless. The woman pictured before him was absolutely breath taking. He had shook off these ridiculous feelings, telling himself that the artistic beauty of the painting had overwhelmed him. The woman couldn't possible be as beautiful as what he saw when he looked at the painting._

_Boy had he been wrong!_

-.-.-

She had clutched the paper tightly in her hand for ten minutes, before she had looked towards him.

He had tried to remain patient and let her go through everything he had told her in her mind in her own time. Frankly he had wanted to ask her how she was feeling and what she was thinking every other minute, but he had refrained. He was rather proud of himself.

"What's going through your mind?" his smooth voice floated through the small distance between them, filling her ears and body with warmth. Oddly she had missed his voice in the short span of time where there had been complete silence between them.

She paused for a minute, trying to assemble some form of coherent thought she could relay to him. "Well, I'm shocked to be honest. I didn't really believe this whole scene to be true. I still have a hard time trying to understand…everything, really." She looked at him, her cheeks flaming a bright pink colour and her eyes shining with an emotion he couldn't fathom.

"What made you change your mind?" he asked her.

"On what?" she replied, not understanding what he meant. She had expected many different kinds of questions and reactions from him to her admission, but not what he ended up asking her.

"You said you didn't believe this all to be true – what made you change your mind and begin believing it?"

"You did," she didn't even hesitate before the words tumbled from her lips.

His head snapped towards hers in a rush, his stare burning her skin wherever it perused. Her cheeks were now flaming red, the blood pumping furiously beneath the surface of her delicate features and her heart was on a mission to jump out of her chest. "What about me convinced you?" He wondered. He hadn't exactly been forthcoming with her, and honestly he was a little affronted that she so easily believed him. He could be all things evil for all she knew and the thought of her putting her trust so easily in him when she didn't know him scared him.

"I don't really know what about you made me change my mind." She looked down into the sand, steeling herself before she revealed her intent on him. "It might sound crazy to you, heck it sounds crazy to me, but I feel connected to you. I still think this whole idea of you and I belonging to another world is wacky, but I do believe that you believe in it, and for some reason that makes my mind go: _believe it_."

Bella briefly glanced towards him trying to gauge his reaction. He was scowling into the ground, his perfectly arched eyebrows knitted together. His right hand was curled tightly around his upper thigh, his knuckles turning a few shades brighter than the rest of his skin. She felt the disappointment all through her entire being. She hadn't counted on him to be thrilled or even flattered by her comment, but she didn't figure he would have such an obvious dislike to her attraction to him. The thought hurt more than she had anticipated.

She rose to a standing position, her knees slightly weak from sitting down so long and probably of the rejection floating through her. But as she stood before him, dusting of the sand on the back of her thighs, she embraced the feeling of worthlessness. She knew that feeling and she knew how to deal with the ramifications connected to this state of mind.

He had been shocked when she stood from her position next to him, her actions bringing him away from the dark road his thoughts were spiralling down. She shouldn't be feeling safe with him when he weren't safe.

"Where are you going?" he implored of her, getting ready to stand up as well and follow her.

"Relax Edward," she breathed deeply through her lips and looked towards him remaining seated in the sand she'd just vacated. "I'm just going to take a walk along the shore. I'll try and read the letter from the book as well. See if I learn anything useful in that."

This was the first time she had called him by his name when referring to him, and the warm feeling it sent through her was surprising. She felt the tension leave her shoulders and the feeling of worthlessness slightly ebbed away. She shook herself of the unfamiliarity with this new bubbling warmth shooting through her body and tried welcoming the feeling of worthlessness. That one was secure, that one she knew.

-.-.-

She had wandered farther down the beach than she'd meant to. He could barely catch a glimpse of her delicate figure, slightly zigzagging through the sand. He was preparing to stand and catch up to her, when she stopped her mindless wandering and gracelessly settled her bottom into the sand once again.

The breeze was slightly stronger where she now sat closer to the water. Her hair was whipping furiously around the delicate features of her face and she was constantly repositioning locks of hair that had fallen astray from their place in her bun.

She was looking out over the water, the high waves of the waterfront turning more subdued the farther away from the coast she looked.

"Might as well get it over with," she mumbled quietly to herself, retrieving the letter from her jacket pocket.

She turned the squared object back and front a couple of times before she breathed deeply and wondered of her own cowardice and opened the offending object. Hadn't she just this morning thought of a newfound feeling of adventure blooming deeply in her belly and slowly touching every corner of her being? Where had that courage and sense of adventure gone?

'No matter,' she thought and swiftly opened the letter and removing the sheets of paper from inside. She unfolded the papers and began reading.

_My dearest daughter Isabella,  
I can only imagine your despair and I deeply regret bringing those feeling forth with you. Please understand that was never my intention and that my love for you stems deeply within my very being._

_I was sad to have to give you up for someone else to raise, but you will come to understand the motivation behind my choice to do so soon._

A teardrop hit the page she was clutching between her fingers, shocking her with the blatant display of emotion. She truly was coming apart by the seams, and it scared her, making her bones turn cold within her body and freezing her movement.

She felt stupid only for a second, before she pushed the tears and fears aside and continued reading. She would deal with whatever feelings she might have on a late time.

_You were born on an unusually warm September night, a ray of sunlight filling the lives of your father and I. The word of your birth filled our kingdom like wildfire, and before we knew it, a man who shouldn't very well know of your being knew. We had to do what we could to ensure your survival, whatever the consequences might be._

_It was around this time I sought the help from a wise man. He told me of a place where you'd be guaranteed peace and security. So obviously I jumped at the opportunity to bring you what every mother will their child – safety – and discussed this with your father._

_He was furious and couldn't believe how I could willingly renounce you, but you have to understand, as I made him understand, that I did what I had to do to save you. Hopefully you'll come to understand why some day. _

The breeze from the water had decreased slightly. He was still observing her. She had been reading the same page for five minutes now, and he was growing restless.

It didn't sit well with him that she had felt the need to distance herself this far away from him. He had become addicted to her proximity and longed for the sparks her touch ignited within him.

"Fuck this," he loudly exclaimed and threw his hands up into the air for dramatic effect. He began to stand from his sitting position and lightly brushed on the sand that had stuck to the back of his pants. He briefly recollected stealing a glance when she had been doing the same minutes prior, and he felt a tightening deep in his gut. The image of her small fingers brushing lightly against the tight denim fabric stretched against the skin of her firm thighs brought a devilish smile onto his face, and his entire being came alive with a new and very welcomed feeling.

It warmed him up from the inside out, and he had a sudden urge to be as near to her as he possible could. Without thinking further on where his thoughts stemmed from, he rose gracefully to his full height and strolled down the beach towards where she was still reading the paper she had collected from the letter.

-.-.-

_She had been carrying the book with her, her tiny frame almost toppled over from the excessive weight the book carried. She wouldn't normally be caught within a good twenty feet of the leather-bound bastards, and this one especially annoyed her. If she could have, she would have tossed it far, far away by now – but she knew he would need it where he where going and also, The Queen herself had ordered her to make sure the soldier she would choose, were to bring this family heirloom along._

_He had offered to carry the dead weight she'd been carrying around, but she'd annoyingly refused, and he knew better than to press her on the matter. She would in her own time bring up the subject of the book and he would just have to be patient until then._

-.-.-

As he was strolling towards the small figure sitting 15 yards ahead, he wondered of how often the women around him forced him to be patient and wait for whatever outcome they decided upon. And frankly he was fed up with waiting around. He wanted to take action, to be slightly reckless and throw caution to the wind.

Although he could have told himself a hundred times why it was a bad idea to disturb the petite brunette, when she had requested space and patience from him, his mind chose to ignore the warning signs blaring in his head when he got closer to her sitting body.

At first she didn't notice his arrival and was initially spooked when a shadow fell over her. That was until she looked up into bright emerald eyes, goading her to make a fuss about his obvious dismissal of her one wish.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh that hurt princess. Aren't I allowed to sit here, perfectly still, next to you while you please those curious brain cells darting back and forth under that pretty head of yours?" he was smirking at her, every cell in his body tuned into her every movement. When her pinkie twitched he noticed and when her back stiffened infinitesimally he saw. But when her eyes came alight with aggravation he knew – he was in for an earful.

"As a matter of fact, no you aren't! I thought I made it perfectly clear that I wished for you to leave me alone while I thought things through and read the letter. How can you misunderstand that?" She was fuming, her nostrils flaring and her blush back at full force. It slightly disarmed him whenever she turned that beautiful shade of pink and he couldn't help himself wondering how far down the blush spread.

A tightening in his groin made him grunt slightly and the air between them transformed within seconds. It was sizzling with electricity once again, and she felt the pull he had on her stronger than ever. The leash that had been connected to her hips was now metaphorically tugging at the base of her throat, making her breathing burst forth in rapid spurts.

He was feeling the pull as well, walking closer to her sitting body, before surrendering to the need to be even closer to her, and letting his body settle down on his knees before her. He dug his hands into the sand on both sides of her bottom, slightly bending across her curled legs and leaning over her.

She should have been intimidated by his closeness, but her body had long since taken over her rationale and it made her lean slightly forward so there only remained a couple of inches between their faces. His eyes were intoxicating on her. The moss green colour was turning darker for every second that went past, and her stomach curled in delight by the expression her own found in them. He mesmerized her.

Her entire being was alight with need for him, for him to be closer still, even though barely an inch remained between them now, their noses practically touching. She could feel the physical attraction he seemed to have on her, but what shocked her most about this entire display were her mind's cravings for every last bit of him. She wanted to know everything she could learn about him, and not only that, but she also felt a need to memorize every little detail about him. To remember the angle of his jaw, the fullness of his burgundy lips and the depths of his forest green eyes.

She sighed and an almost silent groan passed through her lips. He was completely captivated by her features and the expressiveness of her eyes before she took him by surprise when she made that noise. The amount of pleasure it sent through his body could have filled him from there and to the end of the world.

An answering groan from him sent her mind spiralling. The deep monotone sound at the back of his throat overwhelmed her, and when he leaned in removing the remaining inch between them, she snapped back into reality and retreated hurriedly, almost missing his advance.

Their lips had met briefly before she had reacted, sending tingles from where he touched her down her entire being, and they seemed to concentrate toward the apex of her thighs, sending the burning sensation on a rush down into her legs and making her toes curl from the sheer sensation the tingles created.

He was stunned! He was no stranger to kissing girls, but something about their brief meeting of skin had seemed completely foreign to him. But in the best way possible. The warmth from her brief touch had filled his lips and body and her slight moan when his skin had made contact with hers had sent his mind reeling into the gutter, imagining all the different ways he could touch her to make her deliver that utterly sinful sound again.

But when he leaned in once again trying to recapture her lips did she have the reaction she would have imagined to have in the first place.

"What are you doing?!" It wasn't so much a question, but a chance for her to get him to distance him from her, so she could crawl out from underneath him and stand. She stood in the sand with her hands firmly planted on her hips and a frown on her face, shooting daggers towards the man kneeling before her. Her reactions to him had been completely foreign to her usual nature and standing now in the fresh air allowed her a moment to clear her head. He had had some kind of spell on her when he uttered the first groan and she was frightened by the ramifications her actions might bring with them if she hadn't retreated when she did, and allowed him to kiss her fully.

He was slightly disoriented, not used to being dejected by the opposite sex. The disappointment he felt from her retrieval was soon replaced by rejection. "I… I-I don't know…" The words stumbled out of his mouth, his eyes firmly glued to the sand in front of him. "Could we just pretend that never happened? That wasn't supposed to happen…"

The desperate tone in his voice was meant to tell her how sorry he truly was that she had retreated, and how much he wished their second kiss would have come to fruition. But she interpreted his words and tone slightly different. Obviously he hadn't meant to try and kiss her – she couldn't possibly be his type – and this was just a fluke, a mistake, that weren't to be repeated. The weight of disappointment and rejection that landed on her shoulders by his words made her frame curl slightly in on it self and the hot sting of tears pressed behind her eyelids as she blinked rapidly to avoid them falling against her cheeks.

Instead she gathered the rest of her wits about her and gave a small, timid "yeah, sure we can forget that ever happened."

He saw the quick show of disappointment in her chocolate eyes before she turned on her heals and walked a few feet away from his slouched body and sat down into the sand. He wanted to fill the uncomfortable silence with comforting words. Somehow this awkward tension between them felt like his fault, and he dearly wished to remedy that, but he didn't know how. Instead he moved slightly closer to her, trying to maintain a safe distance from her, since she seemed uncomfortable having him too close. 'She must be truly disgusted by my actions,' he thought.

-.-.-

"_I don't understand what you mean for me to do exactly Alice. How am I supposed to find someone by a simple drawing – how will I know if the one I find is the right person?" He was truly bewildered by her request._

_Normally he wouldn't hesitate to do what she asked of him. She had an uncanny sense to know how things would pan out, and she had truly been a godsend most of his life, but what she was asking of him know seemed not only reckless, but plain stupid._

"_Relax brother. You will know you've found the right person when you first lay your eyes on her. I've seen it," she said, referring to that ability of hers that she had always mastered. If it hadn't been for the fact that they resembled each other in facial features, he would have thought her to be a witch. "And you'll find the right person and bring her back here to reunite the kingdoms. The Queen is placing her trust in you to locate her daughter and bring her back to us."_

_He wished that he could simply trust her word for good credit, but the entire prospect of him leaving on a wild goose chase after some spoiled princess didn't sit well with him. He was a soldier, and a darn good one at that! He had been summoned for the military when he reached the age of 16, and had yet to fail on one single battlefield. _

_She could see him doubt her. She didn't fault him for his mistrust on her. She had seen him not believing her, and that was what the book was for. She handed him the offending leather-clad object and said: "Here, take this with you. Store it someplace safe until you've found her and when you do bring her to it. This-" she pointed to the book "-will tell both you and her of what actions to take next."_

_He looked doubtfully into her sparkling green eyes and felt torn as he glanced between the cover of the book and her. It didn't say anything on the leather front; only an indentation in the shape of a zero sign marred the smooth surface of the book. But the missing title wasn't what transfixed him the most. What concerned him the most were the completely blank pages the book contained when he opened it._

"_Why is it empty? There's no writing, no nothing, on the pages?" he enquired of her._

_She was staring off into space and her eyes had a faraway expression in them. He was quite familiar with this expression of hers; she was seeing something. When she finally broke away, she was frowning, but before he could enquire her about what she had seen that disturbed her so, she interrupted him and said: "The girl will have an object that will present itself as a key to the book. The key will unlock every feature the book might have to offer, and from there you'll both learn what steps to take next."_

"_How will she know what object is the key?" he muttered towards his older sibling and looked imploringly at her, trying to convey how displeased he was with this new development on his participation in the wars. _

"_It will be the only object with which she will always carry on her body. It is in her locket."_

-.-.-

She had noticed his slight advance on her, but decided she wouldn't bother telling him off by disrespecting her wishes once again. If she were to be honest to herself she found his proximity to be comforting, and as she sat there in the sand, the breeze once again picking up and flaring her hair around, she felt the need to be comforted.

It took a while her for to gather her thoughts enough to focus on the letter she'd deposed back into her pocket and resume reading it.

_You see Isabella, our kingdom – your kingdom – have been plagued by evil for centuries. Many of our subjects know not of the true reason behind the wars, and even though many in the royal court would disagree with me, I believe you deserve to know of it._

_You deserve to know of why your father and I decided to temporarily disown you._

_God, that sounds horrible, but I'm worried that is honestly how you and many others see it. And you deserve to know why we don't see it that way. Why we saved you._

_The story you've hopefully read by now is the beginning of all bad happening in our kingdom. Your father's father was a gentle and loving king. And his queen did fell horribly ill early in their marriage. She'd barely given birth to your father when her being was sickened by an evil witchcraft. She didn't make it and her sickness brought dead and destruction with it._

_You see, your uncle was left to rule the country when the old king embarked on an adventure to find the cure or help required to save the queen. And your uncle felt deep resentment towards the king for abandoning him to handle everything by himself._

_He had fallen in love shortly before the queen fell ill and when the king demanded he took over ruling, the king forbade him seeing his love. He was devastated. You father told me the story behind your uncle's action, and though I feel resentment for what he caused, I must admit I do feel where he's coming from. He was heartbroken and felt the world turned against him._

_When he left the kingdom – according to some, in search for his lost love – the king ordered an arrest for him. The king thought him to be going rogue and feared he would overtake the kingdom. He practically disowned him, and a feud between the two men escalated into the wars we are surrounded by today._

_A legend speaks of a young woman of blue blood standing against the forces that cause havoc in the kingdoms and making all fighting come to an end. I – well your father and I – believe you to be that woman. That's why we feared for your safety my girl._

_I was told the origin of the legend originates from a woman named Sulpicia. I've spent every hour apart from you searching for this person, but have yet had any luck._

_I need you to track down this woman and hear her what she has meant by the phrase. I need you to save your kingdom. I need you to return._

The letter was signed in scribbles she couldn't decipher. An uppercase 'R' was the only typography she could make out as she sat there studying the tangled letters.

"So what do we do?" she asked, disturbing the tense silence that remained between the two.

"What do you mean?"

She looked briefly towards him to see him gazing questioningly at her. He was pleasantly surprised that she didn't initially shut him out. "She didn't really tell what step to take next," she said as she stretched out her left arm and handed him the letter.

He looked towards her briefly before snatching up the letter and greedily reading the words written on the pages in half the time it took her to read it. "Huh," he stated once he'd finished. "I don't know."

"Well that's very helpful of you. Thanks for stating the obvious." She looked at him with annoyance in her bright brown eyes. He wasn't annoying her anymore per se, but he wasn't helping his case either.

"It's not my fault you know?" As fate would have it he was getting annoyed by her. It wasn't his fault her parents chose to give her up. 'So bad' he thought, and stated as much before he thought more about the ramifications such a statement might have.

He was prepared for her rage, and was deeply disturbed when she recoiled from him and scooted away in the sand. She turned her body in the other direction from him and tucked her chin into her chest. And when she began shaking slightly he became truly concerned for her.

He sprang to his feet, slightly sprinting to the other side of her and falling yet again to his knees before her. This time without the sexual tension.

She refused to look at him and when her body began shaking badly with soundless sobs, he forced her chin from its placed locked into her chest. He looked at her with horror and disgust at his own words towards her as he witnessed a tear escaping from the corner of her beautiful brown eyes and travelling south down her chin until it hit the sand beneath them and blending into the ground.

"I'm so sorry," he stressed, wiping any other tears that escaped from her. "I didn't mean to be-" he paused, not sure how to express truly how sorry he where for hurting her. "I'm an ass. I truly didn't mean to say that, I don't believe that!" He was stressing each words as her tears seemed to flow more freely down her cheeks, most of them caught by his awaiting thumbs, but some escaping through their connected flesh and hitting the sand where the first dropped landed.

She sniffed and felt embarrassed by her open display of emotions. She weren't usually this open, and she definitely used to contain her deepest feelings better hidden away. But when he had discredited her, her own fears of the truth behind the words had hit her full force, and she had barely had a second to gain control of the feelings swirling around in her belly. She recognized the most obvious of the emotions to be fear and disappointment.

He saw the resignation in her eyes before her features stiffened into a cold mask of indifference. This scared him even more than her tears. "Come on Isabella, you can't possible believe that I believe that do you? I'm so sorry if I made you feel that way, just – please, don't shut yourself off like that…" he closed his eyes tightly, the pain of what he caused her to feel surging through him. He leaned in close to her body, both of his hands clasped tightly around her head and his forehead resting against hers and he opened his eyes and willed her to see the sincere regret he felt for causing her such pain that she felt the need to close herself off.

She gazed deeply into his bright green eyes, and saw a myriad of feelings flowing through them and she had the distinct feeling that every single one of them were reflected in her own. "I believe you," she decided she didn't fault him for getting frustrated by her and gave into the conviction he felt through his statement and expression.

He noticed with sadness that she hadn't exactly denied her conviction of the truth to his thoughtless words, but decided to settle for this small agreement between them. He smiled a sad smile at her, not quite able to shake the disturbing feeling of doom settling over him.

They were still sitting in the same position, her head cradled carefully between his warm hands, his fingers tangling into the hair at the back of her head and their foreheads connected. As they resumed looking into each other's eyes, they were both overwhelmed by the proximity of their heads.

The light shining back at her in his emerald eyes enthralled her, and she briefly wet her lips trying to moisturize her mouth as it had gone dry from her panting.

He had noticed her huffing breath hitting every inch of his facial skin and he had loved the feeling of the warm air heating his skin. But when her tiny, pink tongue peeked out for just a second between her red lips he lost it. A barely audible groan slipped through his lips as he grasped the hair he already had gathered between his fingers tightly and drew her head into his until their lips clashed together in the middle.

She moaned loudly. The feeling of his lips roughly caressing hers was utterly euphoric and she longed to taste him. The butterflies in her stomach turned into a wild stepping fire as it burned through every inch of her being and seemed specifically focused on her low abdomen.

Her sounds of pleasure spurred him on and her angled her head slightly to the left to deepen their kiss further. Just as his tongue swiped across her lower lip, begging her to open up to him and grant him a taste of her, did the ground beneath where she sat and he kneeled begin to crumble.

The sand folded violently over their bodies, burying them in the heavy material as they spiralled downwards.

Their kiss had broken apart as soon as the sand started disappearing from underneath them and she had squeaked in fright by the ground disappearing beneath them. They fell through the soft ground, their fall slowed only by him grasping tightly onto her upper arms and trying to grasp at anything that would anchor them to the surface. The ground had become like quicksand, sucking them into its depths and soon his grasp on her faltered in the midst of the action going on.

He became terrified, his only thoughts centring on location Bella and keep her as close to him as possible. She had been pulled under the surfaced and he dived in after her in desperation, his breathing frantic and every molecule of his being focused on locating her.

Edward's hands fumbled through the sand finally stumbling upon the fabric of her shirt, and he grasped it roughly beneath his fingers. When he was satisfied with the grip he had on her, he willed every muscle in his body to cooperate as he pulled her towards him.

As soon as she was within reaching distance did he enclose her tightly in an embrace and tucked her head into the crook between his chin and chest. Her breathing was soft against the flesh of his neck, and every muscle in his body ached from having to fight against their inevitable decline further into the earth, and he caved to the exhaustion briefly closing his eyes, and tucking his chin into her neck and infinitesimally tightening his hold on her as they continued further down.

-.-.-

**Author's note: **_Hello darlings… Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now the story can really kick-off. There'll be fighting, exploring and steaming love affairs from here on out! Hope you're as excited as me!_

_This is probably one of my favourite chapters this far. I had to reveal a lot of information in this chapter, so I'm really very excited to see how many of you have connected the dots, and if what I'm trying to keep a secret to reveal in a later point in the plot line, is in fact still being kept a secret! If you don't know of what I'm talking, I've succeeded! _

_Besides the added information to this chapter, I loved the fact that I truly got to explore the feelings connected with our Hero and Heroine. It's exciting to write about the beginning stages of infatuation/love when you are a romantic, and I do hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did._

_Up next: We arrive in a new world and Bella faces the first challenge of being a stranger in a new place._

_Now I'll leave you to continue with whatever you did before reading this obnoxiously long AN, and just before you leave, once again encourage everyone to leave a review. I appreciate all of your thoughts – good and bad – and would generally love to see a significantly higher number of reviews on the chapters than there've been up until now. I see a lot of people read and follow the story, which is lovely, but a review is like chocolate to a very hormonal woman (me)._

…_Toodles, nomdeplume – and happy reading!_


	6. Chapter 5: Stranded or Landed?

**THE LOCKET**

**Chapter 5**

"**Stranded or landed?"**

**-.-.-**

They were clutching each other tightly, neither having moved a single inch from the position they were in as the sand swallowed them.

His eyes were skewed shut and every muscle in his body ached from the exertion he has engaged in.

The breeze blew past their curled bodies lying pressed together on the ground and he slowly willed his eyelids from the locked position they'd been in and blinked rapidly as the explosion of light from the outside world blinded him at first.

As soon as his vision cleared and he was able to focus for more than three seconds, did he praise their surroundings.

The soft earth below them, slightly giving in density when he moved about, revealed that they were lying on sand once again. The slow, steady rhythm of waves lapping at the shore told him they were near water. They were on a beach, though not the same as the one they had just sat at, he noted.

No, here the sun shined brightly down upon them bringing the unmistakable warmth only a Midsummer's day sun could provide.

The breeze was not cold or biting against his skin as it had been in that other place. Here, the wind carried the sweet smell of flowers and salty water, and every pass it made by their bodies made his skin glow in delight by the feeling of being _home._

"Ungh-" the girl still firmly resting in his arms sputtered, and his attention immediately settled on her body lying still besides him.

She felt her throat close up and the panic that shot through her as she realised she had trouble breathing, sent her into shock. Her eyes flew open, and just like his before, she had a difficult time focusing on one item, the bright light from the sun blinding her.

The panic of not being able to breathe toppled with her lack of sight, sent her shock spiralling downwards, and she felt her heart beat furiously beneath her chest, trying to break free and get out into the air. She needed oxygen. She'd only just realised as much as her body began hyperventilating, her brown eyes growing unnaturally big as she was finally able to focus on the man in front of her.

He had initially been relieved and slightly pensive when she'd given word from her, but as he looked into her wide and disturbed brown eyes, he felt the panic settle deep in his belly, the intrusive feeling rapidly spreading through his system and incapacitating him.

He froze! And there she was having a panic attack, and he was utterly useless and just stared at her in horror, as horrid feeling after horrid feeling flew past the expression in her eyes.

A white, almost transparent film covered the dark irises of her eyes after a short time, and her breath was wheezing down her throat, making her sound like an old lady, having suffered from a lifelong abuse of cigarettes and stale air. For a brief second did he wonder if she maybe suffered from bronchitis since her breath was wheezing like so.

The thought, although random and rather inappropriate, sprung him into gear, and he let go of his tight hold on her and clasped her chin in one hand, the other pressing two fingers lightly against the pulse point of her left wrist.

Her eyes stared unblinkingly into his green ones, her vision slightly obscured by the white filter that had laid itself across her irises. She felt briefly annoyed by the obtrusion between her vision and his, but the feeling soon dimmed as her entire focus returned to her inability to breathe correctly. "Ngh-" she sputtered once again, her mouth opening wide, in a gagging motion, but with no sound coming forth.

"Jesus!" he exclaimed, realizing she were having trouble breathing. His glance moved anxiously across her body, trying to figure out how to help her catch her breath. Was she choking?

There wasn't time to contemplate further, he decided, and jumped into a standing position. As soon as his feet hit the sand below them, gaining momentum for just a second, caved his knees beneath the added weight of his body. His muscles ached, and every one of his limbs were shaking uncontrollably. He would not be able to hold himself up _and _support her full weight as he would try to help her gain back her breath, he noted.

Not yet defeated, the adrenaline kicking in at full gear, he crawled over her shaking form, curling his entire being into her back. They were spooning in the sand, her breathing nearly non existent at this point, and he noted with horror, that her body slumped slightly forward into the sand, as her body caved into her struggles.

He reached both arms tightly around her midsection, being extra aware of the position of her belly button as he interlocked his hands and pressed himself tightly against her. He kicked one leg out behind him, having it act as a resistance to the movement he was about to force upon her tiny frame.

He pressed once, the action rather clumsy, as he didn't gain the momentum he had hoped for. His leg had slipped behind him and she had curled slightly more onto her front, pressing him more into her side than her back.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed, the exertion in his muscles burning through him like wildfire, and he willed every last working cell in his body to cooperate as he righted her frame to lie on its side in front of him again. This time he pressed even tighter against her small, shaking figure, lying slightly lower than her.

His nose was pressed into the shirt between her shoulder blades, his chest pressed up against the middle of her back and his hips pressed up into her behind. One leg was still pressed firmly into the sand behind them, while the other curled around her knees.

"Alright..ungh-" he groaned and breathed roughly through his lips. "1..2- and 3!" he murmured and pressed with all his might, trying to slightly lift her body as far as his aching muscles would allow him to.

She sputtered from in front of him, her load gasp expanding her lungs almost painfully and she turned slightly into the sand as dry heaves and violent coughing wracked her body.

He exhaled loudly and released his tight hold against her stomach as she continued to cough slightly. Her deep breathing in between coughs satisfied him, and as he rolled onto his back gave his muscles in to the exhaustion and he slumped into the sand with a deep groan.

He had passed out almost instantly, nearly sending her into yet another panic attack before she steeled herself from doing something as stupid as passing out besides him, when he had just done everything to avoid exactly that from happening.

Instead she had curled slightly up against him, finding indescribable reassurance in his strong and steady heartbeat and slow and deep breaths. She regulated her breathing so it matched his until she felt her body relax into the sand, making her curl slightly further into Edward's form.

His warmth soothed her skin as she pressed her face into his neck and breathed down his chest. He shuddered slightly and curled into her touch.

Lying there in the sand, both physically and emotionally exhausted, caved their bodies to the fatigue and they fell into a deep slumber

-.-.-

They had turned during their slumber. They'd resumed a spooning position in the sand, his hands grasped around her slim waist and hers lying atop of his.

He had woken first. Her hair had tickled the skin of his upper lip and he had been on the verge of sneezing before he stumbled back into reality.

He'd covered away from her body almost instantly. It was like she had stung him everywhere they had been in contact, either flesh to skin or skin to fabric. He barely registered their intimate position before he was on his feet and stumbled a few feet away from her resting form with his heart pumping furiously in his chest.

It had felt so familiar, lying there, behind her slight, feminine curves, holding her tightly against the rough and hard planes of his body. And that scared him more than any feeling or situation he had ever been in or had before.

He needed to breathe, to think. She made that nearly impossible, so instead of positioning himself down in the sand once again, he decided to explore their surroundings further. _'Make sure they were safe, and all'_ he reasoned with himself, as he felt guilty leaving her lying in the sand, vulnerable and exposed.

Huffing quietly under his breath as he contemplated what action to take now. He could wander either further down or up the beach of he could go explore the forest that bordered the beach.

Deciding on the latter option, he took one long lasting look at the small female and willed himself forward, into the bushes and rough underbrush of the green plantation.

The density of green filled every aspect of the landscape in front of him. Not even the rusty brown colour of the bark of the trees was visible; all of it covered in moss and leaves, making it impossible to even catch a brief glimpse of the skeleton of the trees.

He wandered further into the forest, brushing away the occasional annoying branch or straw.

All he saw was more green, and the further he went, deeper into the masses of green, the more annoyed he became. He knew the lands like the back of his hand, yet he had never set foot in this exact part of the forest, and it angered him to be completely and utterly helpless and – if he were being honest – hopeless.

The treetops curled further in on themselves as he wandered further into the forest. Hardly any of the sunlight hit the ground below, and he wondered of the plants' abilities to still remain in such a lush, deep green colour. The towering trees didn't spare much of the precious rays of sun, and yet the nature around him didn't seem to be affected by the missing nutrient.

The bright light that had surrounded him from the beach were slowly vanishing, and he were navigating almost blindly through the grass and moss, a couple of times coming close to stumbling into some of the trees.

'_So this is pointless,' _he thought and turned on his heals, fully prepared to return back to the beach, back to Bella. But as he swung around on his feet, a slight ray of light caught his attention in the distance.

He stopped briefly, looking back towards the path back to the beach. He was staring intently between the two paths; the one that would lead him back to Bella with no new knowledge of their whereabouts or the one that would lead him towards…something. He didn't know what is what about the new path he had discovered, but something about the light ahead called to him, making him yearn to go in pursuit of it.

"Fuck it," he exclaimed loudly, causing a bird somewhere in the overgrowth to bask away in fright. He was going to explore, and with a final look in her direction, he was following the path.

The ground beneath his feet was soggier than before, the green moss flooded by water whenever his feet settled into the soft material. He hurried past trees and branches, only once pausing as he realised that the light was shiny through the blanket of trees, branches and leaves in front of him.

He pushed through the rough material and stumbled slightly free from the tough grip the branches had had on him. Amazed he stopped struggling as soon as he noticed where the light had brought him.

He was standing at the each of what looked to be a small meadow. The green wall of trees surrounded the little field of grass and flowers, and a small creek flowed effortlessly through the scenic landscape, adding a calming sense to the air surrounding him. The comforting sounds of the flowing water, travelling across rocks and sand in a fast, yet unhurried tempo, calmed him and he breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh smell of grass.

'_I know this place,' _he realised with glee, and turned on his heels once again, intent on bringing Isabella here.

-.-.-

She had been sitting in the sand with her knees curled beneath her body as he had stumbled through the thick overgrowth of the beginning of the forest.

When she had woken alone in the sand she had initially thought he had upped and left her there. But she'd considered herself stupid not seconds after the thought had entered her brain. "He wouldn't just leave," she had tried placating her worried mind, and had decided to wait around a couple of minutes before going in pursuit of him, wherever he was.

A few minutes turned into a long time, as her mind occupied it self with thoughts of the book, the letter and the locket. What did it all mean?

She had yet to understand truly what all this fuss was about, and what annoyed her most, was not her lack of knowledge of why she was brought here to this place but _who _had brought her here.

He claimed to know who she was, and yet she had no idea who he was. She only knew superficial stuff like his name and occupation. It annoyed her beyond belief that this man _– this person – _had completely captivated her, and now she sat… Well, she had no idea where she sat! _'I could be anywhere in the world right now,' _she thought bitterly.

As she sat grumbling about her annoying stranger, she noticed a glimmering of light from the sand further down the beach. Her eyes squinted trying to make out what would reflect the sunlight in such a distinctive manner, but she couldn't determine what was creating the reflection.

Unsteadily she stood and walked towards the spot in the sand where the light was brightest.

When she neared the object, she noted with horror that it was her locket lying, half-buried, in the sand, and she kneeled in the sand as she retrieved the object from its position.

"Huh." She uttered, as she realised she must have lost the precious jewellery. She curled her hand tightly around the small metal locket and pressed it into her chest, feeling the faint thump of her heartbeat against the spot where it rested.

She had been temporarily disturbed by his violent struggle through the bushes and trees, the silence that had engulfed her as she stared blankly out over the water abruptly put to an end as he cursed loudly, before rushing through the heavy sand beneath his feet.

He stopped suddenly next to her sitting form, a heap of sand flowing over her lap and stinging the bare skin of her arms.

"Hey!" she exclaimed and looked up into his eyes with what she hoped was annoyance. She had to squint her eyes to shield them from the light, so she figured she hadn't been all that successful.

He chose to ignore her indignant tone and grabbed her upper arm in excitement, trying to get her to her feet. He should off course have known better by now, since the sudden shift to her body brought her tumbling backwards and brought him with her.

"Oof!" He had landed on top off her, his weight crushing her significantly smaller body beneath him. "Get off!" she squeaked.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he stood back up into the sand, this time letting the girl stand of her own volition next to him. As soon as she was standing – securely – next to him did he grab her upper arm once again and pulled her along to the part of the forest where he had just emerged. "Follow me."

-.-.-

She had stumbled after him, not happy with him dragging her through the dense, green forest. Every once in a while her clothes would get stuck on a branch or she would be smacked in the head by a flying twig. Off course he would apologize when he realised to late that he had sent the bastard twig straight into her face when he had let go of it.

The bastard. She was fuming and once they had reached their destination she was fully prepared to lay into him for dragging her along like she was some common cow behind him.

"You listen here mister!" she yelled at him. "Just what do you think you're-" she didn't get to finish her yelling as he stopped her by placing a long, innocent finger on her lips, silencing her as he motioned for her to look around them.

Her heart sped up as soon as the smooth skin of his finger touched her lips. Her bottom lip trembled as she distinctly remembered their kiss on the beach, before they were…transported? here.

She looked him in the eyes, her breathing picking up as she saw the dark look in them. She was mesmerized by the dark green colour gazing back at her.

He felt the air around them get heavy and his finger tingled where he touched her, sending a shiver through his body. 'This is not good,' he thought and cleared his throat.

The sound broke the spell around them and she averted her eyes, trying desperately to avoid looking back into his emerald ones. She stepped back at the same time as he removed his finger from her face and the air around them turned tense.

"Um.. I wanted you to see this," he said quietly with a sad tone to his speak.

She looked towards him briefly, catching the gloomy look in his eyes, before she glanced around him, for the first time noticing their surroundings.

It was absolutely breath taking.

"It's beautiful," she muttered in awe.

Edward looked at her staring in wonder at the beauty of the small meadow he had led them to. He couldn't help but agree with her statement, yet he found himself wanting to agree upon the beauty of something quite different than the landscape around them.

"What is this place?" she asked, not yet looking at him completely. She wandered into the centre of the field, bending down slightly to pick at some of the flowers growing in the bed of grass beneath their feet.

"It's a small meadow – it's called _cubile amatores_." He told her as he stepped past her, heading for the small creek that twisted through the earth. "Come on, I'll show you." He motioned for her to approach him as he sat down into the ground, pulling something from one of his pockets.

She sat down next to him, her eyes still staring wondrously at the nature around them. The wall of trees gave the small meadow a private feel, and the sun shining down into their bed of grass warmed the air blowing gently through the landscape, lifting some of his hair gently and repositioning the locks on his forehead.

He brushed the offending locks back in their rightful place and handed her what he had retrieved from his pocket.

She took the paper he offered her, hesitantly unfolding it. She was slightly startled as she realised the content on the paper was the map she'd seen in the book from the library back home. "How did you get this?"

"I took it from the book when you left me hanging in the library." He smirked teasingly at her.

She grinned back at him, rather fond of the memory of his expression as she left him there. "Alright, what is it then?"

"It's a map."

"Ha ha, smartass!" she scowled at him. "I got that much by myself, thank you Captain Obvious!"

His smirk grew into a full-blown smile, and she noted with satisfaction that this feature made the skin around his eyes crinkle, and she found that she rather liked the look of glee his eyes had when she glanced at them.

"Well, since you've asked so nicely," he smirked at her, his tone slightly condescending, yet full of mirth. "This is a map, or more like an interesting drawing, of our land." He motioned to the funnily shaped island on the paper. "The fairy tale actually mentioned something about this…"

She wracked her brain trying to remember of what he spoke, but ended up empty handed. "What did it say, the fairy tale?"

"It said something about the diversity of the country. It's not a perfect description of the land, but it is somewhat accurate." He motioned to the top of the island, saying "The North of our land is covered in ice, the mountains many and high up into the skies. The Western part of the land is mostly steppes, a few valleys of exotic plants and lush greenery," he paused and pointed towards the bottom of the island. "The deep South is in a constant heat from the burning sun above. The ground marred by the lack of water, and the most astounding feature of this region is _Volcano draconis,_" he motioned to the biggest of the mountains on the map.

'Volcano,' she thought, 'that's quite self-explanatory.' She nodded for him to continue as he stared into her brown, expressive eyes.

"The East of the land is covered in thick, dense forest grounds. Many a soldiers from other kingdoms have been lost in the thick bush of the forest." He glanced warily at her, as he dragged his finger slightly north through the forest line, and stopped when he came to a part of the map that stated: 'cubile amatoris'. "This is us…"

She stared incredulously down at the map, trying to comprehend what he was telling her. They were actually in the map… 'Well, not in-in the map,' she snorted.

He looked at her funnily, and she blushed in embarrassment as she realised she'd snorted out loud. He laughed silently at her odd antics and kept a steady gaze on her.

"We're heading South West," he stated.

She studied the map briefly, before asking him: "What's in the South West?"

"Home."

-.-.-

**Author's note: **_The fifth chapter, ladies and gentlemen. A bit shorter than what you've been used to, but it's all part of the storyline. _

_Please leave a review once you've read the chapter/story! I really appreciate your words, and a true fact: I write faster when you review! _

_Up next: ? What's your guess? I'd love to hear it!_

_Oh – and I recently made myself aware that I totally (to sound like a true Valley-girl) forgot to thank all of you for reading! So if I ever forget again, please know that I'm truly thankful for all of your reads, favourites, alerts and comments…_

_And one last note: I'm currently working on the map (vaguely) described in this chapter – I'll post a picture once I'm done on my blog (link on my profile). I have already put up the picture of the locket, coin and drawing of Isabella on the site._


	7. Chapter 6: A Troll's Tale

**THE LOCKET**

**Chapter 6**

"**A Troll's Tale"**

**-.-.-**

They had set up camp for the night in the small, peaceful meadow.

She had been eager to get started and begin exploring this new world. Somehow she had not doubted a single word he'd said to her, when he explained his reason for showing her this little piece of heaven hidden in the dense forest.

But he had been exhausted. His muscles were still aching, and he knew without a doubt, that if they met 'resistance' of any kind, he wouldn't be able to fight back.

And while he considered himself somewhat self-centred and pretentious, he found the reasoning for wanting to be better prepared for their upcoming journey to be in favour of the fragile young girl he had brought here.

So after a lengthy discussion she had allowed him to leave the meadow to find some dry logs so they could set up camp, before beginning their travels in the morning.

She had seemed annoyed by his persistence to relax and stay put, but as the late day wound into evening – and inevitably night – she found she agreed with his reasoning. She saw the drag in his step and his shoulders hunching in on themselves as he set down the few pieces of wood he had gathered to light a fire.

Then as he had made the logs burst into flames a few minutes later, she had been in awe of him. 'I never would have survived for a minute here alone,' she thought and blushed as she embarrassedly realised the truthiness to that statement.

Her belly filled with a floating warm mass, as she felt grateful for her luck by being stuck with Edward off all people.

"Thank you."

It had been a quiet utterance in the darkness of the late night, as they had settled in on different sides of the fire.

She didn't think he had heard her when he didn't say anything back for the next five minutes.

Just as she settled with the thought that he had already been overcome with sleep, came his reply, just as softly as her words: "What for?"

He had been utterly gobsmacked when her quiet words had reached his ears. The sound of the words was foreign to him. She didn't struck him as someone who gave away thanks all that easily, yet he was completely clueless as to why she felt she had to thank him.

"For…" she paused as she thought of how to phrase her next words. "For bringing me here."

Silence followed. He had thought she had been truly annoyed by his interference in her perfectly formed life and he honestly didn't know how to respond to her revelation.

"I don't know why… At least not yet – I just know I'm thankful to you… So thank you," she said, this time her voice slightly stronger as it carried along the wind from her lips to his relaxing body.

He didn't answer. A few minutes passed before she detected the unmistakable sound of soft snores carrying down the wind to her. He had fallen asleep.

She settled into the soft grass below her, turning on her side and tucked both her hands under her chin. Her soft breath caressed the small hairs on her arms as she drifted off.

-.-.-

The sound of running water and birds chirping woke them the next morning.

They had moved during the night, somehow once again ending up in each other's arms. But this time they were facing one another, and they both woke up simultaneously.

They had intertwined their legs and Edward had locked his hands around Bella's waist. She had fisted the front labels of his shirt tightly in her hands and had tucked her face into the soft skin of his neck.

She could feel his stubble scratch her forehead as she came to and the realization of her whereabouts came like lightening bolting through her body.

She jumped backwards unsuccessfully: their limbs were still intertwined, which resulted in him falling on top of her as she moved away from him.

He could feel the irregular and quick rise of her chest underneath him as her breath puffed against the skin of his face. Her brown eyes gazed back at him, her pupils dilated, and her cheeks became flushed with a dark red blush. He felt his own breath quicken as to match her irregular one and his fingers twitched against the fabric of the back of her shirt.

She had trapped his arms beneath her, causing her to be truly encased in his embrace.

His green eyes blazed back at her and she blushed as she felt sweet tingles erupting everywhere in her body. His sweet breath travelled by the skin of her face and landed on the soft skin of her lips. She felt the sudden urge to stick her tongue out and taste the air he omitted.

Edward's breath hitched as he watched her small tantalizing tongue peek out and wet her ruby lips. He felt the need to descend down onto her fill every corner of his body, making every nerve ending come alive with pure need to fulfil the wish to meet her soft lips with his own.

He sighed softly and let his need overtake his actions as he slowly pressed his body into her soft one. His firm and strong body moulded perfectly into her small delicate one and he descended his lips down onto hers as he felt a deep satisfaction fill his body as he realised he liked the feeling of her body moulded as such into him.

"Wait!"

The soft cry from her lips barely registered in his mind. He froze above her with only one inch between their lips, their noses slightly touching.

"I-… I can't…" she stuttered.

He felt deep disappointment settle in every pore of his being. Not really disappointed by her, more by him self. He had lost every sense of control of himself, and he was embarrassed by his obvious lack in control.

She pushed slightly against him as she felt his body weight to be almost suffocating against her. His soft sigh had brought her back into reality, as she had realised what was about to happen.

And she couldn't let that happen. He'd regret it. _'Just like before,' _she thought bitterly, as she remembered his desperate need to forget their earlier kiss. She would be absolutely devastated if he kissed her again, and regretted it once more.

Edward extracted his body from hers slowly and sat back on his heels. He put his face in his hands and felt like beating himself for being such a brute. Obviously she didn't appreciate his cave-man'ish behaviour and he felt disgusted by his actions.

She lay back on the ground breathing deeply through her now open lips as she gazed upon his retreating figure. There was something absolutely devastatingly beautiful about his stature and she knew, without a doubt in her entire being, that her appreciation of him was dangerous.

A thick cloud of uncomfortable silence filled the air surrounding them, and she felt weighed down by the sheer force of it.

She shuffled slightly where she remained on the ground and cleared her throat trying to shake away the unwelcome feelings of doubt and regret filling her body.

"We better get going." His voice drifted through the air as he stood back up and offered her his hand. "We have some travelling to do if we are going to find this Sulpicia woman," he mused.

She took his offered hand, and much to her own chagrin, found the skin of her fingers and hand tingled where she touched him. "Alright… Do you know how to find her?" she asked him.

"No." he stated. "But I know someone who might know where to find her."

"Well then, lead the way." She brushed of some of the dirt that had stuck to her shirt and pants and motioned for him to go ahead into the dense forest.

He nodded slightly and turned on his heels leading slightly north into the forest.

She stumbled slightly after him as she once again tried to keep up with his long strides. She felt a sense of déjà vu walking briskly behind him. The invisible string attached at her hips was back once again keeping her firmly planted a few feet behind him.

-.-.-

"Hold on, would you?!" she exclaimed loudly.

They had been hiking through the dense undergrowth of the forest for a couple of hours and she was already exhausted.

She had never been big on exercising, hadn't really seen a point in it since she lived a few blocks from her workplace, and the trek to and from work was the only exercise she ever really engaged in.

"Just try to keep up," he called back at her. He was frankly annoyed by the tiny little girl trying to keep up with him. _'How could she be so…annoying?!' _he thought.

"Easy for you to say Mister – I'm practically at a complete disadvantage here," she puffed and dodged yet another evil branch flying straight at her as he had let it slip through his hold.

"Hey!" that was the third branch he had let go of, and which had coincidentally flown straight at her. "Could you _please _look out for my position whenever you do that?!"

He briefly considered apologizing for his inconsiderate behaviour, but he honestly felt a slight satisfaction in annoying her. He figured it was fair play since she was really grating on his nerves. She hadn't shut up once since they began their trek into the forest and he was fed up with her endless chatter.

"You could apologize you know?"

"I know," he replied, a smug smile adorning his features as he briefly looked back at her and made a huge number out of holding the next branch out of their way.

"You are a real big pain in the ass," she chided at him as she walked a few steps ahead of him. "Anybody ever told you that?"

She was walking purposefully forward, heading in the same direction as they had been on before she had overtaken him.

She made it a couple of feet before she noticed he wasn't following her. She turned on her heels, her hands firmly planted on her hips and a menacing glare in place.

He was grinning at her, still standing by the offending branch. "Aren't you coming?" she questioned with annoyance.

"Seeing as you're heading in the wrong direction; no I'm not coming." He grinned smugly back at her, as he turned slightly to the left heading further into the deep undergrowth.

She was fuming, her jaw slack with shock of the audacity of him. _'How dare he!'_

"Aren't you coming princess?"

She could hear the laughter in his tone as he called out to her. She unfroze from her spot and strode purposefully after the annoying man walking ahead of her once again.

"I already told you," she stressed. "Don't call me that!"

He smiled mischievously back at her and replied, "and I already told you: I don't care."

She was boiling on the inside. "You don't care, do you?! That's just not gonna cut it!" she yelled.

"And how is that?"

"I-…" Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and she felt her face heat with a furious blush. "I don't appreciate the connotation implied by the word princess."

"And what might that be?" he wondered, now truly interested in her reasons for her obvious dislike to the endearment.

"I just don't like it okay?" she whispered. "The term princess implies I'm acting the part of a spoiled, ungrateful child who know nothing of real life troubles."

'_And that's definitely not true,' _she mused in her mind, not willing to share this tiny bit of weakness in her to him.

He fell silent, not really knowing how to respond to her. He sensed she wasn't sharing the entire truth to her dislike of the word, but figured it must be some petty reason, like an old flame calling her that or something. Somehow this thought bugged him more than any other he had had about her.

"And what if that is not what I am implying when I refer to you as princess? Am I allowed to use the term to refer to you then?" he asked as he resumed walking.

She struggled once again to keep up with him as she replied: "Well what _do _you imply when you say princess then?"

He laughed, amused by her reluctance to agree with him without having all the facts presented to her. "That's for me to know and you to find out…"

-.-.-

Silence had followed the rest of their trek until they had settled down sometime in the late afternoon. He had spotted a huge redwood amongst the different trees littering the forest and he had instructed her to stay put as he went in search of something edible for them.

She would probably need to recuperate before they could continue and he had to be considerate of her obvious lack in muscle strength and stamina.

These thoughts brought some very unwelcome musings on about her stamina in other situations, and he found himself fairly distracted by thoughts of her soft lips and soft body as he stalked through the different greenery in the forest trying to locate some berries or mushrooms.

She was resting against the huge tree as a rustling sound from her left disturbed her moment of peace and quiet.

She sprang to her feet, wildly searching for some kind of weapon around her she could use to fend off her possible attacker.

"Edward?" she stuttered as she stumbled slightly backwards, not once taking her eyes off the couple of bushes that had initially alerted her to the possible intruders.

No answer came and she felt her heart beat rapidly in her chest, her throat closing up and making it hard for her to breathe deeply into her stomach. She struggled to catch her breath as she blindly grabbed for the nearest branch and snapped a twig from the arm of the tree.

She stretched her arms in front of her, both of her hands having a firm hold on her weapon of choice, ready to inflict serious damage to whoever was sneaking up on her.

A rustling from behind her startled her and she turned to hastily, resulting in her stumbling over her own feet and falling hard onto her bottom, her breath leaving her in a whoosh and momentarily stuns her.

Edward emerges from the greenery to her sprawled haphazardly onto the ground; a few cracked twigs crushed in a tight hold between her fingers and pointed accusingly at him.

"Oh thank God!" she exclaimed and jumped with almost inhuman speed from her place on the ground into his body.

Without realising what or how it happened, she was somehow curled around his body, her arms tightly wrapped around his neck, her head tucked into his chest and her legs wrapped around his waist, keeping her ankles locked behind his back.

"What's going on?!" he stuttered as he stumbled back a few feet from the impact her tiny body had on his.

Her breathing was almost hysterical and her tight hold on him didn't let up as she tried explaining her erratic behaviour. "I heard a noise from the bushes over there and became really frightened… I sort of realised I was all alone, and grabbed the first thing I could to, you know, defend my self if it came down to a fight."

She gestured slightly towards the offending bushes and he gazed intently into the greenery trying to determine if there were any real danger ahead. When he came up empty he reached behind his neck trying to free her death grip around his neck and settled her onto her unsteady feet on the ground in front of him.

He checked her over, worry clear in his bright green eyes, before his gaze once again settled on the couple of twigs clutched in her tight grip, now poking slightly into the skin of his stomach. He grinned as he once again heard her shaky voice telling him she had been prepared _'to fight off any danger'_.

"So…" he grinned down at her. "You thought you'd fight off a possible dangerous opponent with a couple of measly twigs?"

He was laughing slightly at her antics, and she felt the embarrassment and anger rush through her body.

"Yeah well, I-…" she paused, her cheeks highlighted in a bright red colour. _'It really brought out the depth of her eyes,'_ he thought and became instantly mesmerized by the expressiveness reflected back at him in them.

She stumbled through some half-hearted explanation as to why she had thought the twigs would have inflicted serious - if any - damage to a possible attacker. Honestly she had just grabbed something in her panic. She might as well have grabbed a handful of moss and used it to blind her opponent.

He laughed at her explanation and found her desperate actions to defend her innocence quite endearing.

"You can stop laughing now," she muttered, her chin tucked securely into her chest and her feet shuffling back and forth on the ground below. Her cheeks were still flaming red from her embarrassment. "It's not really all that funny."

"On the contrary princess," he chuckled. "I think it's hilarious."

He laughed openly at her chagrined expression.

"Hardy ha! Could you cut that out please," she huffed at him and returned to her spot leaning against the big redwood.

"I'm sorry," he kept chuckling quietly as he dropped the few berries and mushrooms he had collected on his hunt and went over to the bushes she'd pointed out to check them out.

He didn't think they were hiding any unbidden visitors, but he decided it wouldn't hurt to check and be sure that they were in fact alone. _'At least for now.'_

When he was satisfied he didn't find any intruders, he settled down next to her and handed her a handful of his 'prey'. She sniffed the pieces of mushrooms before looking questioningly at him. "Aren't some mushrooms usually poisonous?"

He gazed briefly at her and held out a wide selection of what he had collected for her to inspect. "Well, mushrooms generally come in many variations. Some are poisonous, yes, but generally most species are edible… It's the berries you have to look out for."

"How so?" she wondered as she moved her studies from the mushy mushrooms to the wild berries. They seemed rather harmless to her and were actually quite pretty mixed together in the palm of his hand.

"Well it goes, if you're in doubt whether a berry is poisonous or not, you should consider it to be poisonous. You can't determine by their feature whether a random berry is toxic for humans, and that is why they are more of a risk for unknowing eaters." He said.

"So how do you know these aren't poisonous?" she wondered. "Or are you trying to poison me?"

He grinned. "Now that you ask, yes I am!"

She laughed slightly at his foolish look. He attempted to look very serious while trying to hide a wide smile.

"But seriously, you should always be cautious when you choose to eat berries from the wild," he said. "Most berries which are blue, black or purple are good to go, whereas the ones which are white or yellow will harm you if you consume them. Also be sure the berries don't grow on vines – those are often the most poisonous ones!" he added.

They settled in silence once again. She cautiously tried some of the mushrooms he had gathered for them. The taste wasn't particularly pleasant to her, but it weren't as revolting as she had expected.

He had popped a large amount of the fungi and berries into his mouth at once and was chewing healthily on the mix of sweet and sour.

She watched in awe as he stood from the spot next to her and retrieved a small pocketknife from the anklet of his shoes and began cutting off various branches around them.

"What are you doing?" she questioned.

He looked briefly towards her before he cut off yet another green branch and brought the lot he had collected back to where she was situated.

"Here, drink this."

He held up the end of a couple of the branches and squeezed the ends until a thick clear liquid ran from the cut-off's. He placed the ends against her lips and urged her to open her mouth.

"Now suck."

She startled slightly by his comment, but as soon as the liquid hit the tip of her tongue she started sucking earnestly. The earthy taste of green leaves filled every taste bud of her tongue as she sucked the branches dry from the liquid they contained.

He watched hypnotized as her red lips closed around the end of one of the branches and began sucking in earnest. He could see her throat muscles constricting underneath the fair skin of her neck and he felt his mouth go completely dry. His lips tingled and he felt a surge of need and lust travel through him, settling deep in his stomach and tightening in his groin.

He groaned slightly as he slowly removed the branch from her mouth and replaced it with another.

When she'd sucked out two more she gestured towards him, questioning whether he wasn't thirsty as well.

His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and he simply squeezed a couple more branches before putting them into his own mouth and sucking them dry, savouring the earthy and tangy taste.

She watched mesmerized as he drained the green sticks, feeling her cheeks heat with a blush once again and her gut tightening in delicious waves of pleasure.

A tense and awkward silence followed after their little dinner adventure, and as they settled down for the night – Edward leaning against the tree, and Bella curled up on the ground near his feet – they felt the air crackle with electricity as it had done once before on the beach back in her world.

Both fell asleep with a slight grin on their faces and the air around them seemed to have shifted from the somewhat erotic display they'd both been privy to earlier.

-.-.-

"Edward!"

He woke with a start, momentarily blinded in the dark of the night. His heart was racing as he tried to find the source of what had awoken him.

"Edward! HELP!"

Her loud screams were tearing through his shirt, skin and settled deep into his bones as her desperate tone sent a chill through every single part of him.

He jumped to his feet, fumbling blindly in the dark for a second, trying to locate his trusted knife to defend whatever seemed to be causing her this much distress.

"Ed-" her scream broke off, and he turned violently to the left searching for her. His eyes had adjusted to the low light and he could make out two looming figures dragging Bella's tiny frame backwards into the woods.

"Hey!" he screamed and flew into action in hot pursuit of the two strangers and the girl. "Let go off her!"

One of the figures turned around noticing the man approaching hurriedly. He nudged his partner with the hand that weren't grabbing the shoulder of the small girl, and motioned to the man approaching.

"Put her down!" Edward yelled at the two figures.

As he approached them he was appalled to realise the two figures were trolls. He hadn't anticipated them travelling deep enough into the forest to be on troll territory, and he had seriously hoped they would not meet the vicious creatures at all.

Apparently his wishes had not been granted, as the second of the two trolls now approached him, its giant frame looming menacingly over his human form.

He stepped back slightly, trying to look around the big frame blocking his view of Bella. "What do you want?!" he desperately yelled at the two trolls, not really expecting an answer. Trolls weren't wildly known for their excellent linguistic skills, but more known for their brute force and uncaring nature.

The first troll had grabbed Bella tightly around her small neck and waist, her cheeks turning slightly purple as he cut off her air supply. She gurgled before slumping slightly forward as her vision darkened. She called out to Edward one more time, and barely heard his desperate shout before she collapsed fully into the hard and bulky embrace of the troll behind her.

"ISABELLA!"

-.-.-

**Author's note: **_Real life seriously got in the way this time! I'm working on my exam thesis and some other assignments to pass this term's classes…_

_And this chapter had me in quite the pickle-situation. I don't know why exactly this one was hard for me to get down on paper – maybe because of the amount of interaction between Edward and Bella I had to write… I hope I did their relation justice! Please let me know if I didn't(or did) succeed…_

_I would really love to get a bit more feedback on the chapters and the story – I love those of you who do write me your thoughts, and I really do write faster when I know what you think about the story.. Plus, I do enjoy hearing your theories on how the story might or might not unfold, and that gives me a lot of inspiration when I do write…_

_Up next: Who knows? Do share if you think you know what might happen… I'd love to hear it!_


	8. Chapter 7: A Troll's Lair

**THE LOCKET  
Chapter 7**

"**A Trolls' Lair"**

**.-.-.**

'_How do you prepare for goodbye?'_

_The thought had been hunting her mind ever since the Queen had approached her._

_She knew for a fact that he wouldn't believe her. He would probably fight her every step of the way. And honestly she expected him to do so as well._

_After all he was her brother. She loved him._

_How was she supposed to pretend everything would be well and orderly so long as he followed her instructions? _

_She couldn't. No better yet – she wouldn't._

"_Alice?"_

_The soft murmur was coming from inside her mistress' office. She knew that tone of voice. In fact she mastered that tone to the tee. She'd often used it whenever she needed to manipulate her father or brother into seeing things her way._

_But this time it was different. This time the words – the tone – was directed at her, trying to manipulate with her emotions, her mind, and she found it to be disturbing on so many levels._

_Every nerve ending in her body was wired and tensed as she approached the deep mahogany door that led into her mistress' study. Being defiant wouldn't help her case now she realised, as she pushed open the heavy door and entered the dimly lit room._

"_Yes, my Queen?" Her voice filled the silence, not wavering but strong and confident as she had been taught by her own mother._

"_Oh, I thought it was you wandering about the halls at this hour…" the Queen paused. "Come, sit, share your concerns with me child, for obviously your thoughts must be important to disturb you so." She gestured into the air in front of where she was seated in the spacious room._

_But Alice knew better than to believe her soothing words. She knew that the Queen knew why she was up and out of bed this late in the evening. 'After all it is her fault' she thought bitterly as she sat down on the ground in front of her._

"_Tell me child," the Queen paused yet again, her eyes glaring into Alice's blue ones, "what bothers you so?"_

**.-.-.**

He had fought like crazy trying to get out of the hold the giant troll had had on him.

But his struggles had only helped to further annoy the big dummy, and before he had registered it, the troll had hit him hard on the back of his head, making all his air supply violently leave his body. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head and he had passed out.

He came to as he registered his body was flung about, hitting various rough and hard obstacles, damaging his clothes and the skin underneath them.

Every inch of his back was burning violently from the rough surface scratching past beneath him.

His hands were bound above his head, the rough texture of the robe digging violently into the skin around his wrists. His arms were aching from their awkward position above him and the dull ache momentarily diffused him.

That is, until another sharp rock scratched into the skin of his shoulder, slicing through the skin, making him jerk violently to avoid the pain.

He hissed through his teeth, his eyes clenched tightly shut as he tried stabilizing the jerky movements his body were making. When he didn't succeed he opened them carefully trying to gauge his whereabouts.

A sigh from his left brought him fully back into the reality as one thought jumped into the forefront of his mind: Isabella.

His breathing picked up and his sight became blurry as he had forced his eyes open too fast and too violently, resulting in unwelcome tears obscuring his vision.

Another small sigh came from beside him as he travelled over yet another rough patch in the surface below.

The sound of stomping and dulcet tones filled his ears, and the unmistakable creaking of old wood groaned slightly from above him. He blinked furiously for what felt like an eternity until his vision cleared.

He was not surprised to see the green canopy above him, but he was rather disturbed by which speed the greenery above seemed to zone past.

Trying to bend his neck slightly to the side seemed impossible at first as every muscle in his upper back and arms constricted violently against the movement. He hissed once again through his teeth, ignoring the burn and lifting his head a few inches above where it had rested against his upper arm.

The pure shock and anger that filled him when he finally cast eyes on the girl lying beside him took him completely by surprise.

She was bound akin to him. Her wrist tightly wrapped together above her petite form and attached to the end of a huge ancient wheelbarrow. The robe seemed to be cutting violently into her skin as well and he felt his stomach turn as he realised she was bleeding from where the rope had cut into her skin.

Her head was resting against her upper arm, bopping slightly along whenever the dirt zapping past beneath her hit a rough or uneven patch.

With horror he realised they had been bound and attached to a moving wheelbarrow, being dragged over the rough earth of the forest.

But how where they moving? He didn't hear any sounds indicating hooves, but only heard loud thumping along with squealing from the wheels.

In an effort to get a better view of their predicament, he stretched out his arms above him before heaving his body upwards into an almost sitting position. This allowed him to turn slightly on his side.

He stayed still for a few seconds, staring straight ahead into the soft face of Bella, as to avoid getting noticed by whoever drove or dragged the wheelbarrow. Her soft features were completely relaxed in her slumber, her peaceful image only disturbed by the soft sighing whenever her body dragged violently against the earth moving beneath them.

He let out a gust of air, as he realised no one had seemed to notice his movement.

Heaving himself slightly more upright onto his forearms, he looked up ahead to try to decipher who or what were navigating the wheelbarrow through the forest.

A giant form slumped in front of the carriage. Its broad shoulders heaved every time its arms dragged the wheelbarrow behind it.

'Trolls' he thought bitterly. Those creatures were almost impossible to defeat, simply because of their shear size.

Another bump in the ground rattled the carriage and Edward momentarily lost his balance, his forearms stretching above him and dumping his chest and shoulder roughly down onto the earth beneath him.

A groan startled him and his eyes snapped towards Bella.

Big brown eyes stared unseeingly back at him. Her gaze was focused solely on his face, but her stare seemed to be seeing something far away.

A shudder travelled along his spine. The uneasiness he felt from her empty stare frightened him more than any troll could.

"Isabella?" he whispered, hoping to get some reaction from her. Anything else but the blank expression, which adorned her soft features.

She startled slightly when his soft, deep voice hit her ears. Up until he called for her, she had felt like being in a trance. Her body had seemed weighed down by some unseen force and her vision had been blurry, making it impossible for her to decipher what were going on around her.

Her eyes snapped to his green ones filled with worry and trepidation.

"Isabella?" he whispered once again when she didn't answer. Her brown eyes had focused on him and he had visibly relaxed when he saw the almost sedated look leave her features. Now it seemed it had been replaced by confusion instead. "Are you hurt?"

She tensed slightly, feeling the sore muscles of her back and arms and a stinging sensation in her wrist, but other than that she felt fine. She stated as much and asked, "what happened? Where are we?"

"What do you remember?" Edward wondered.

"I remember… Well, I remember waking up and being dragged along the ground. Then I remember screaming. Lots of screaming." Her eyes water and she blink quickly to avoid the tears from falling.

Another rough patch passed beneath them and both groaned softly as the ground and rocks rubbed into the skin of their backs.

"I woke to your screams…" he said softly, and finished the sentence in his mind: 'and it scared the shit out of me.'

She gazed into his bright green eyes. She saw the fear in them and another, much softer, emotion hidden beneath the layer of fear. She couldn't truly determine what the emotion held, as she had never seen anything like it before.

"Where are we?"

He glanced slightly around and focused his gaze back to her brown eyes. They calmed him and as he had yet to find a way for them to escape from the predicament they had ended up in he found he needed the calm effect she had on him.

"We are somewhere in the northern parts of the forest. Feel the cold wind above us and the misty ground beneath us?" He asked and continued when she nodded her agreement. "My guess is we are being dragged to the trolls' lair."

**.-.-.**

_Closing the door softly behind her, Alice strode purposefully through the dark halls and escaping through a door hidden in the wall. The cold air of the outside and the biting wind pricked the sensitive skin of her arms and shoulders as she sprinted along the high walls of the castle and heading towards the stables._

_She used to escape to here whenever the air in the castle had become suffocating. 'Oh who was I kidding… Whenever _the Queen_ became too suffocating,' she thought bitterly, her tears streaming down her rosy apple cheeks. _

_Her favourite steed in the stables was a coal black Thoroughbred named Sir Dauntless. She had known the stallion from birth. She had been wandering along the paddocks one late afternoon when the Queen once again had become too big of a burden for her to bear. One of the brightly white mares had been separated from the rest of the herd and she had been circling the same patch of grass for ten minutes when Alice approached the paddocks. _

_Usually Alice would only observe the beautiful animals, too afraid to actually approach or even touch one of the majestic creatures. But the mare had called desperately into Alice's direction, and without thinking she had climbed the fence and travelled the distance between her and the mare. When she was approximately 3 yards from the huge animal, the mare sighed and laid down into the soft earth. Her breathing became ragged and Alice found herself copying the huge animal and sinking down into a kneeling position, her hand hovering above the muzzle of the mare._

_She had stayed in that position for the next 40 minutes as the mare were foaling. The black lump emerging from the mare sank into the ground and Alice felt her heart drop, as the lump remained motionless in the earth behind the mare. The mare called once again desperately trying to hear her baby, but the lump remained unmoving on the earth._

_Alice had been astounded by the look the mare sent her way and she had risen into a standing position, walking to the tiny foal and sinking once again into the ground. The mare had stood as well and began licking the young one. Alice had found herself helping the old steed and cleaned the young foal along with the mare. An excruciating ten minutes must have passed before the tiny foal had come to life and shook on the ground. Another ten minutes and the baby was standing up and feeding hungrily from the mare. Alice had named the little one and ever since the two had been inseparable._

**.-.-.**

The earth beneath them had long ago turned smudgy, giving away to the muddy texture. The mud stuck to every inch of their clothes and bare skin.

Bella was shivering. The cold mud sticking to every inch of her body had cooled her significantly, and it seemed they had travelled further north and rising slightly for every other yard. She had long ago deduced they were heading up some sort of incline.

Edward was struggling every few minutes trying to get free from the shackles keeping them bound to the moving wheelbarrow. Bella's lips had long ago turned blue and her breathing sounded disturbingly ragged. He was beyond worried at this point and he was blindly fumbling for some tiny possibility to escape.

"Just-.. Keep still." Her low voice and resolution were only rattled by her staggering speech. She tried to hide a sneeze, as she looked sternly at him. "It won't help us any good you know… We're stuck here until they decide to untie us."

He was outraged at first and he couldn't understand her calm attitude. Then he got really scared. What if she was giving up?

"Isabella – we have to try to get free. Those are trolls dragging us to God knows where."

"I know that! I'm not completely incompetent. I just don't see any reason for you to tire yourself completely by struggling against what seems to be pretty decently tied bounds. Why not wait it out? Save your energy and all that?" she responded.

He hated to admit it, but she was making sense. Yet he couldn't just allow for the trolls to do whatever they saw fit for the two. That just wouldn't do.

"Those are trolls! Do you get that?" he exclaimed. "A troll is a merciless creature, only concerned with its own needs and rather ruthless whenever they feel threatened… And since the humans in this world have not been very accommodating with the troll species, I wouldn't blame them for feeling threatened by us."

But she just wouldn't see reason. Instead she huffed loudly into the air, turning her burning gaze onto him, making him shrink slightly back into the earth.

"I don't care. You stay still until they untie us – and then we will figure something out. Together." Her tone left no room for discussion and her stare burned into him, silently daring him to disobey her orders.

He could really only speculate of what would happen if he chose to give a rebuttal to her ridiculous notion, but somehow the threat of her wrath scared him more than the thought of what the trolls would do to them once they reached their destination.

A quiet calm settled around them as they were dragged along the earth. Bella was relieved he had stopped struggling. The rattling of the wheelbarrow and bumpy ride over the ground had made her nauseous, and Edward's struggles had rattled the carriage even more, making the urge to vomit almost unbearable.

A light rain had started as they were dragged further north and upwards, when the wheelbarrow halted and the thumbing of the trolls' steps stopped.

"What's-"

"Shh!" Edward shushed her before she could bring any unwanted attention to them. "Stay quiet!"

She ignored him, whispering: "what's happening?"

"Would you just – for once – listen to what you're told?!" he muttered exaggeratedly. "Keep still and stay quiet princess."

She pouted at him as she quieted down and listened. Their vision was limited to the sky and the tops of the trees surrounding them.

The sky was coloured in purple and pink hues, giving way to the inevitable night as the sun was setting somewhere in the west.

Heavy footfalls neared the boot of the wheelbarrow and Edward tensed as he started to fear what exactly the trolls had planned to do with them.

A loud grunt from above him made Edward crane his neck as a slightly smaller troll climbed aboard the wheelbarrow and loosened the rope keeping them bound to the thing. His arms slackened as soon as the line loosened its hold and his muscles burned violently from the sudden removal of tension.

"Ugh-. Let me down!"

With horror he realised the biggest of the trolls – the one who had dragged the wheelbarrow – had grabbed Isabella beneath her knees and thrown her over his shoulders and began walking away from his spot by the wheelbarrow.

"Isabella!" he screamed. "Let her down. Let go off her!"

A loud thump right next to his head startled him as the smaller troll had jumped off the back end of the wheelbarrow and slumped past him. Its feet dragged along the earth and he kept his eyes fixed on the dragging form as it neared his legs.

A loud shriek made his blood turn cold and he fumbled on the now dark forest ground trying to catch a glimpse of Bella. She had been dragged away, out of his sight he realised with horror.

"What do you want?!" he screamed to no one in particular, not expecting an answer. "Isabella! Isa-Ungh!"

A hard thug on his lower calf made him drag a few feet along the earth, his already burning skin screaming for relief against the pain of the rough surface beneath him.

A cold, clammy hand circled his left ankle and the smaller troll huffed as it began dragging him along behind it. He kicked feasibly into the air with his free leg, trying to no avail to incapacitate the offending creature keeping him prisoner by the ankle.

"Ouch! That hurt!" he heard Bella scream as the troll dragged him further along into the darkness of the forest.

"Isabella?" he yelled just as the troll dragged him into a small clearing. He finally caught a glimpse of her as the troll stepped slightly to the left to navigate him into position right next to her.

She sat on the ground, pouting as the big troll that had thrown her over its shoulder retreated back into the dark leafs of the forest.

He sighed, relieved, as the troll that had been dragging him left them to return back towards where the wheelbarrow had stopped. Turning to Bella, he made a quick visual assessment of her trying to gauge if the troll had hurt her in any way. The mere thought that it might have made his blood boil in anger.

"Are you okay?" he whispered into the darkness, his gaze burning over every inch of visible skin his eyes could reach. She looked fine, a bit disgruntled, but fine nonetheless.

"I'm okay," she huffed back. "You?"

Before he could give up an answer she hushed him as the troll that had been dragging him returned to their small clearing with the rope that had been holding them to the wheelbarrow.

The lumpy creature dragged its way over to them and roughly grabbed Bella by her shoulders and turning her so her back remained towards Edward. Then the troll did the same to him and bound them together by their already tied up wrists.

A few minutes had passed after the smaller troll had left them yet again before he broke the silence.

"Now what do we do?"

**.-.-.**

"_Boy, come! Assist me!"_

_A loud voice interrupted her time with Sir Dauntless and the black stallion whinnied as she startled slightly._

_She wasn't allowed into the stables, and certainly not by her self with no chaperone to keep her company. Or rather, to keep her virtue intact. _

_She had long ago made a deal with the stable hand Seth. He was only fourteen, and he allowed her into the stables, unsupervised and alone for however long she needed, if she provided him with leftovers from the kitchens of the castle._

"_Let the steed run off in the paddock before you untack and wash him boy." The voice yelled, slightly more pronounced as the owner of it neared the entrance to the stables._

_Sir Dauntless neared the open window in his stall and turned attentively to try and see what the commotion from outside was about. Alice pressed herself into the corner near the opening, hoping to stay hidden from view. Not only would she be in dear trouble if someone found her here, but Seth would surely be sentenced for corrupting her and allowing her this time of freedom._

_Hard boots hit against the pavement, the sound getting louder and louder as they neared Sir Dauntless stall, and evidently Alice's hiding spot._

"_Well hello there," a soft, deep voice murmured slightly above her and Alice whimpered soundlessly. "Aren't you a beauty?"_

_Too late, she realised the voice was addressed to the stallion above her, and this time she whimpered loudly tucking her chin deep into her chest and squeezing her eyes shut._

"_What's this?" the voice murmured softly, peeking into the dark stall and at the small hidden form hiding in the darkness. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"_

_Although the words were meant to sound accusatory, Alice felt comforted by the soft tone they were spoken in and she peeked slightly up into the face of whoever stood above her._

_Strong, masculine features adorned the face staring back at her, his wild blond curls framing his sharp jaw, making his appearance seem softer and more inviting than she would have expected. His bright blue eyes burned into hers and she found herself speechless as she looked into the unbidden depths of those blue gems._

"_Hello there darling," he muttered softly, conscious not to frighten the tiny woman still huddled in the corner of the stall. "I'm Sgt Whitlock, but you may call me Jasper," he smiled._

**.-.-.**

Darkness had turned into the early hours of the night. Their quiet talking had ceased whenever the bushes by the edge of the clearing had rustled or they'd become suspicious if the trolls were anywhere near and could actually hear them.

He had tried to placate her many times when she'd hissed at him to keep quiet, deadly afraid of what the trolls might overhear of their planning. He had said trolls never really heard very well, at least not by legends tale, but she did not dare believe a fairy tale muttering of such serious matters. If by chance one of the trolls actually heard their quiet mutterings, what would then become of them?

So Bella had it all figured out. Edward had insisted time and again that they wait till morning time and fight the beasts whenever they came to gather them, but Bella saw no reason to wait for such measures. They had to escape.

"Edward?" she whispered and bounced her shoulders lightly against his, making both of them hiss as their sore skin rubbed against each other.

"Yeah?"

"We have to escape."

He paused before straightening slightly. "And how do you propose we do that? Since my idea wasn't much in your favour?" he muttered, slightly annoyed – and if he were being honest, hurt that she didn't think much off his idea.

"I have an idea," she muttered and fumbled slightly trying to navigate her body into a laying position.

"What? What are you doing?"

"Just shut up will you, and lie down." She tugged roughly on the rope keeping them bound together and he feel roughly onto his side next to her.

Back to back, they lay silently for a few minutes. She was making sure the trolls hadn't heard his groan as he hit the ground.

"Now what is your genius plan?" he muttered exasperated.

"Hush!" she shushed him. "Keep silent, will you? Now – lean forward and bent your knees…"

He did as he was told, although it took a little longer than she had thought it would, as they had to manoeuvre together to get him into the foetal position she wanted him in.

"Ugh.." he muttered as he lay curled up in the mud. "What now?"

She rustled slightly behind him, tugging once or twice on the rope against their wrist, making them both hiss quietly from the pain of the material rubbing into their skin. "Okay, now you need to arch your back as much as you can and slide your feet back towards me."

Edward caught on to her almost immediately and grinned, feeling slightly smug by her sudden cleverness. "Oh, you genius princess!" he muttered, the smile evident in his tone as he yet again manoeuvred into the awkward position.

Bella felt an instance sense of pride fill her belly by his praising words and she tucked the happy feeling away momentarily, so she could focus on the task at hand. She had stretched out behind him arching her back and inching lower on the ground as her arms stretched behind her until her fingers felt the unmistakable smoothness of the leather of his shoes against them.

"Almost…" she muttered as she urged him to arch further, allowing her hands to seek lower and finally able to grasp the cold wooden handle of the knife he had stuffed into his boots. "Yes!"

Victorious, she grabbed the knife and straightened into a more comfortable position and forcing Edward to do the same.

Her cold fingers fumbled as she tried to manipulate the steel of the knife against the rope, not completely succeeding as she instead felt the burning pain as the knife cut deeply into her own flesh of her underarm. Hissing into the quiet night, she handed the knife over to Edward, who quickly and fluidly cut them loose.

"You okay?" he whispered as they had stood back up on the mushy ground. His gaze once again burned into every inch of her exposed skin, taking inventory of all the cuts and bruises he could find on her.

She felt almost naked as his eyes roamed every inch of her body, but surprisingly it felt like a good kind of naked. The worried look in his eyes had her stomach fluttering with warm butterflies and she sighed softly before answering him. "Yeah, I'm good. At least for now…"

"Good." He smiled at her and turned in a half circle, his brows knitting together as he realised he didn't recognize anything around them. "Now what?"

His smirk and smartass-attitude would have annoyed her, if it weren't for the clear tone of desperation she heard in his voice.

"Now we run."

She smiled shyly at him and stumbled into the opposite direction of where they had been dragged into the clearing and the trolls had disappeared to. He caught up to her easily and grinned at her almost exuberant behaviour as she felt the happiness of victory once again settle around them.

And their plan to escape would have been perfect, hadn't it been for Bella's uncanny ability to stumble over thin air. She lurched forward, too quickly for Edward to prevent, and landed in a bush of thorns and broken branches, crying out as they cut into the open wound of her under arm.

Her cry brought the rustle of a few leafs nearby, and the smaller troll emerged from the bushes, alarmed as it had heard her loud cry.

"Edward-" her desperate tone brought every nerve ending in his body to life and quickly he jumped in front of her still laying body to avert the trolls attention.

The lumpy creature quickly focused on Edward instead of Bella and it turned a violent sneer in his direction, trying to scare him.

Feeling bold, and desperate, Edward went up to the troll and sidestepped a few lunges before kicking it hardly in the shins.

The troll merely stumbled back a few inches, its sneer turning murderous as it became angry by his attempt to fight it off.

"Edward!"

Momentarily confused and bewildered by Bella's desperate shout, he looked to her taking his eyes off his opponent and assessing what made her cry out.

"Look out!"

She felt horrible even before the troll hit him in the shoulder. He had been occupied with her call and hadn't seen the hit before it was too late, only just managing to turn so the giant creature had hit his shoulder instead of head on.

He stumbled violently to the side, trying to gather his bearings, as Bella whimpered behind him.

The troll saw his momentary lack of steadiness and advanced towards Bella's huddled form on the ground, grabbing her by the ankle and dragging her a few feet along the ground, just as he had done to Edward earlier by the wheelbarrow.

Her cry against the pain sprung him into action, and he managed to grab the biggest rock he could find lying on the ground by his feet. Lurching into motion he jumped onto the back off the troll as crashed the side off the rock into the soft skin right behind its right ear.

As soon as the hard rock hit the troll, its knees buckled and gave into the weight of its body as it collapsed forward into the ground.

Heaving, Edward gathered himself into a standing position before he stumbled over to Bella's form still lying on the ground. She had crawled a few feet away from the troll and was rubbing the skin of her ankle, probably to soothe the pain slightly.

"Come," he muttered and grabbed her under her armpits and lifted her in to a standing position, before grabbing her uninjured arm and dragging her along behind him into the forest.

**.-.-.**

_She had uncurled herself from her position hiding in the corner and had petted Dauntless on the muzzle as she'd tentatively exited the stall. She'd squared her shoulders, looking him straight into his eyes and said: "Are you going to tell on me?"_

_He had been baffled by her accusatory tone and had immediately tried to placate her worries._

_She'd learned he was a department head in one of the platoons settled just north of the castle. As she'd told him of his brother, also stationed in the army up north, they'd discovered their shared acquaintances as she'd learned Edward answered to Sgt Whitlock – Jasper – whenever they were stationed somewhere together._

_They had wandered about the stable grounds for more than two hours talking about Edward, the military and the war, before Jasper, regrettably, had to leave as he had to return to his post. He had promised to deliver a message to Edward when he returned, and just before he left her by Sir Dauntless stall, he picked up her tiny hands in his and kissed the knuckles of her right hand._

_His soft lips had tickled the skin and she had sighed dreamily when they had agreed to meet up again, by this exact same spot two nights later._

_It had been exactly forty eight hours since she last had looked into his bright blue eyes, and her stomach was nearly bursting with the butterflies that tried to escape as she sat, waiting for him to show up._

_Fifteen minutes pasted. _

_Another ten minutes had gone by, and still no sign of Sgt Whitlock. 'Jasper,' she corrected herself in her mind. 'Although Sgt really does sound sexy,' a tiny smile grazed her pink lips and she sighed dreamily as she petted Dauntless yet again._

_Thirty-five minutes had passed before the telltale sound of boots on the pavement neared the opening of the stable. She turned expectantly towards the sound and grinned slightly when his tall frame slipped through the wooden doors._

_He looked apologetic and his breath huffed from him as if he had run a marathon._

"_I'm sorry to have kept you waiting Miss Alice," he whispered as he gazed lovingly into her bright eyes. "But I brought you something…"_

_He stepped aside and she gasped loudly as she laid eyes on the figure standing slightly behind him in the doorway to the stables._

"_Edward?" she muttered, tears forming in her eyes._

_The figure sprinted forward, engulfing her in a warm, familiar embrace as his strong voice reverently muttered her name again and again into the soft texture of her hair._

**.-.-.**

**Author's note: **_Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you so much for reading! This chapter contained a lot of flashes back and forth.. I know they might be annoying – but they are there for a purpose! So bear that in mind, and happy reading!_

_I apologize for the late update – I will try my best to update on a more regular schedule from hereon out… I'd also like to thank those of you who review, like, follow or favouritize (I know that's not a word in the English dictionary, but I like it – so suck it up!) my story and further encourage all of you who read to leave a comment… _

_Up next: Edward and Bella have to deal with the aftermath from being dragged through the forest ground… How might they do that? _

_Oh and before I forget, I'm also on Facebook now... I'll leave a link on my profile, please add me if you read the story – I'd like some friends… I'll post teasers on Facebook also._


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